


you're a dead fit (but my wit won't allow it)

by jessicamiriamdrew



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 10:14:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1030484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew/pseuds/jessicamiriamdrew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things Eduardo Saverin have learned include: 1) Don't date people who set your apartment on fire. 2) Mark will never have too much caffeine. 3) Don't walk into coffee shops named Latterrific because once you meet the owner, Sean Parker (yes, that one), you can give up on digging him out from under your skin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're a dead fit (but my wit won't allow it)

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Canon divergent with a few post-divergent things still incorporated. Everyone ends in Palo Alto but there's no Sean Parker at that point so account freezings + dilutions never happen. Smut! General assholery because this is TSN and some things never change.
> 
> Acknowledgments: Oh god this whole thing started when Elle and I texted about a coffee shop AU and I ended up here. So many thank yous to Susie (RedShiloh) who did writing challenges with me, watched TSN with me even though she’s really not in TSN fandom, read this thing in its entirety more than once, helped me with ideas, told me I could finish this even when I was sure I could not! I owe Susie a lot for this fic. More thanks go to hegemony who read an early draft of this and gave me one of my favorite bits, Sean’s glasses, in addition to listening to me complain about this a lot. Lotus read over this a few times and I am super grateful for her thoughts. Stockinettestitch is the one responsible for the terrible puns, and I am very grateful. And a final mention to Pega, who told me just to write the damn thing when I was floundering.
> 
> SUPER MEGA EXTRA THANKS to my amazing artists!!! The art they made is seriously amazing. (Links at the end because there are vague maybe spoilers!) And thanks to the lovely people who organized TSN Big Bang :)
> 
> Anyway, I will shut up now and ahh i hope this is good and that people like it.

 It’s Monday and he’s late for his job and while _Mark_ may not care about being late because he’s _CEO, bitch!_ Eduardo still feels like one of them needs to be responsible.

He didn’t have time to make coffee this morning and he knows he can’t get through the day if he doesn’t have one—he thinks it’s a full day of meetings—so he pulls out his phone and asks it to find the nearest coffee shop.

All he wants is a nice Brazilian roast, that’s it, and maybe a chocolate croissant. He’s not even picky at this point. He scoffs at the ridiculous name of the shop (who names a coffee shop Latterrific, anyways) but still squeezes into a parking spot in front of it.

It’s different than what he thinks it should be based on the name. It’s hip and fashionable and it seems like it’d maybe be a better fit in New York City. There’s framed records on the wall and the lighting is just between too dark and too bright, perfect. There are actually comfy chairs, not the stuff Starbucks tries to foist off on their customers as comfortable. It seems like someone really could spend the whole day here and enjoy themselves. Eduardo grew out of that his sophomore year of college, but still, maybe if he has a slow day at work he could come back here.

He’s relieved to see the pastry case and thinks maybe he’ll pick up some stuff for Mark and Chris and Dustin too. Eduardo really doesn’t need to get That Look from Chris about being late, like they don’t both work for Mark Zuckerberg who infamously was two hours late to a meeting because he got engrossed in code.

“Hey,” the man behind the counter calls, “what can I get for you today?” Eduardo tears his eyes away from the pastries, ignoring his rumbling stomach, and looks up at him. _Oh no,_ he thinks. He’s the kind of attractive that Eduardo pretends he doesn’t like: hipster douchebag, maybe, with a little bit more of an edge. The guy smirks at him and raises an eyebrow and Eduardo swallows down all of his thoughts to deal with later, after he’s had coffee.

“Uh, yeah. Something South American? One sugar and a dab of milk?” He definitely should’ve gone with straight black coffee but just the thought is giving him a headache with his empty stomach. To his credit, this guy smiles and gets to work making his coffee. The smell is delicious and there’s a reason he doesn’t go to coffee shops often, okay. He gets addicted and it doesn’t matter if he’s a millionaire; he tries not to spend exorbitantly on things he can do himself. “It’s for Eduardo,” he says out of habit, not thinking about how he’s the only one in line until after he’s said it. Still, the guy scribbles something on the cup and Eduardo doesn’t feel quite so silly for saying that. Surely that’s not the dumbest thing anyone has ever said in this coffeeshop.

“Oh, and some pastries too? A few muffins?” He adds because _wow_ , everything in that pastry case is delicious looking. He wonders vaguely if they get ordered in or if it’s all freshly baked. He _thinks_ he sees a bag of flour tucked next to one of the espresso machines.

“Sure, yeah, I’ll pick a few for you.” The man— _Sean_ , Eduardo notes, finally reading the nametag—has turned back around and handed him his coffee. He takes a sip, ignoring that it’s burning hot, and sighs. He didn’t think he could get coffee like this in America. Sean smirks at him and Eduardo tries not to flush. _Definitely_ some kind of douchebag. He’s pretty sure those glasses he’s wearing are Burberry and who the hell even _owns_ a pair of those?

“It’s good.” Eduardo sets his coffee down, and digs out his wallet. He grabs a fifty, knowing he’s overpaying, but he also doesn’t care. The coffee might be good but he’s still late and really needs to get to the office.

“I know,” Sean says and hands him a bag full of pastries. “So are these. I made them myself.” Eduardo hands him the fifty and says thank you again before heading out the door.

Huh. He might be coming back there. He’s admittedly a little curious about that place and why a guy who looks like Sean is running a coffee shop. Not that he _means_ anything about Sean; he’s allowed to notice a guy is attractive without actually finding him attractive.

_All he wanted was a fucking cup of coffee._

He glances down at the cup, wondering if Sean actually managed to spell his name right, and he blinks hard. There isn’t a name written on the cup at all which is sort of bizarre, but hey, he was the only one in line. He shifts the cup again and sees **9.5/10** scrawled on the cup.

Did that—did that _asshole_ —give him a score? What kind of coffee shop had he walked into? Good coffee be damned, that guy had way too much chutzpah.

He ignores the tiny part of his brain that’s telling him to be glad that someone who looks like _that_ rated him that highly.

Denial is his best friend, next to a good cup of coffee.

*

He manages to roll into work fifteen minutes later, making him only half an hour late for work, and given his luck, everyone else is in the conference room already. Eduardo has no idea how Mark is there at 9:30am—maybe all the lectures about how important these meetings are finally sunk in. He always schedules in buffer time because someone is usually late so they’ve still got half an hour before the first meeting starts. He sits down in a chair and tries to shake off his displeasure that he was the last one there.

“You’re late,” Mark says flatly, fingers tapping on the surface of the table, laptop open and running next to him.

“I know!” Dustin laughs and bumps his shoulder against Chris’. “Wardo got here _after_ Mark. Is the universe running backwards?”

Chris stifles a grin at that—Wardo knows Chris has trouble being such a hardass when it’s Dustin telling the jokes.

Eduardo shrugs at them between sips of his coffee and says “I bought breakfast.” That gets them all interested in the bag of pastries. He’s surprised when he takes everything out—by a couple he meant three or four pastries but there are seven pastries in the bag. Was he that transparently looking like he was in trouble this morning? Still, he grabs a chocolate chip muffin and starts to chow down.

“You didn’t bring coffee?” Mark asks him even as he reaches for a donut.

Eduardo tries not to visibly roll his eyes. “There’s a coffee maker at work. I didn’t have time to make coffee this morning. The pastries are my peace offering, okay?” He half-heartedly hopes they’ll be awful enough to match the personality he imagines someone who writes 9.5/10 on his coffee cup has.

“Yeah, but whatever you’ve got in that cup smells delicious,” Dustin says. Wardo pushes the cup over to him and tells him to try it. Dustin is suitably impressed and Eduardo allows himself a moment to feel smug about being the one to find this place first.

“Hey, Wardo, what’s the writing on your cup?”

Eduardo turns to Chris, who has commandeered the cup and apparently pushed down the sleeve.

“Oh my god,” Dustin crows, “Wardo got a phone number!”

He snatches the cup back from Chris and stares at it. Yep, definitely a phone number. When did Sean even have time to do that? Probably after he gave him a fucking 9.5 out of 10. Something tight settles in his stomach and he knows he won’t be calling or texting that number.

He pushes the sleeve back up and drinks more of his coffee, trying not to think about how good it is and the fact that Sean wrote his fucking phone number on his coffee cup.

“Whatever,” he says. “I feel like the guy working does that for everyone who comes in. He’s...cocky.”

“I would be too, if I made coffee like that,” Chris says.

“Hmmm. Maybe I’ll order in some coffee for the meeting.” Mark’s already got his computer turned to him and is pulling up the phone number before Eduardo can say anything.

Eduardo feels a little desperate. All he wanted was coffee and a muffin and why is this happening to him. He’d say Mark was jealous if he didn’t know any better. “I doubt he delivers.”

Mark turns to him and laughs. “He’ll deliver for the amount I’m willing to pay.” Eduardo curses and looks at his watch. He sometimes forgets that he is and works with the youngest millionaires in the world. Maybe they’d all be happier if they were normal people who couldn’t bully coffee shops into delivering coffee and food at the very last minute. He sighs. It’s a pipe dream.

“It’s no good,” he tries, “The meeting starts soon.”

“Yeah,” Mark says dryly. “I’m sure everyone at the meeting will be furious about free coffee and pastries.”

Eduardo thinks he should have called in sick. He has more sick days than he knows what to do with and he’s the CFO. He’s not replaceable as long as he reschedules his meetings...

“Fine,” he says. “I want an Americano.” Dustin opens his mouth like he’s about to say something and Eduardo stares him down. “I’m allowed to have another coffee if Mark insists on ruining my carefully scheduled day of meetings like this.”

Mark puts his phone on speaker mode and sets it down on the table. Eduardo does his best not to cringe when he hears Sean’s voice come through the phone. “Latterrific, how can I help you?” (Eduardo really can’t help the grimace that crosses his face at hearing that awful name pronounced.)

“Yeah, hi, I don’t know if you do deliveries, but I’d like to order enough coffee for forty people. And whatever you’ve got left in your pastry case, I guess.”

There’s a chuckle from the other end of the line. “Prank calling a _coffee shop_ , really?”

“No,” Mark snaps back. “I’m Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook. I have meetings scheduled all day and my CFO just walked in here with pastries and coffee from your shop. I’ll pay you double for everything and tip you 25%. How soon can you be here?”

“Um,” the voice says. “About forty-five minutes?”

“Great! When you get here, go to the front desk and tell them who you are. I’ll call down now and have interns ready to carry everything up. I’ll have someone park your car too. I figure people might want more complicated drinks. You know what? We’ll talk more adequate compensation when you get here.” He hangs up the phone without waiting for a response.

“Great,” Eduardo says, “I can never get coffee there again.”

Mark scoffs at him. “You just got him more business in an hour than he probably gets in a week.”

He wants to tell Mark that that may not be true at all—he has a suspicion that that coffee shop does really great business and Eduardo just happened to come in at a lull moment because he was running late. But it’s not like that would actually dissuade Mark so he swallows down his resentment.

Of course, Mark makes _him_ go downstairs to escort Sean up to the conference floor. Eduardo had protested about interns but Mark laughs at him. “You’re the one who got him the business; you should bring him up here.”

Eduardo would point out all the problems in that statement if he had the time but he really doesn’t. He wants to collect the coffee and pastries and have the meetings over with already so then he can go home and beat his head against the wall in his own apartment.

“You didn’t tell me you worked at Facebook,” Sean says, with the smuggest look Eduardo has ever seen from someone struggling to hold a box of pastries. Great, it’s already off to a rousing start.

“I did tell you _my name_ , which you ignored,” he points out, taking the box from Sean, who promptly piles another box on top of the first one.

“Only fair, since I wear a nametag. You know where _I_ work.” Sean shoots him an easy smile, before he’s leaning into his van to grab containers of coffee. Eduardo really does not look at Sean bending over and if he does it’s because he gets lonely out here, okay, and his last relationship went poorly.

“Oh my god, did you want me to leave you my business card in the tip jar?” He tries to imagine himself leaving one of his fancy business cards—Eduardo Saverin, CFO, Facebook—in the tip jar. It makes him look like an ass and he really only has those cards for when he’s trying to score a business deal. Not the way he wants to introduce himself in general.

“It’d be a start.” Sean's grinning like this has worked for him before. Which, it probably has, given how stupidly attractive he is and Eduardo hates him just a little bit. Sean’s carrying over the coffee containers onto the rolling cart that Eduardo managed to snag on his way down and oh my god those are some nice arms.

“You’re such an _asshole_ ,” Eduardo says, not sure if he’s talking about Sean or himself for still checking Sean out, “you rated me on my coffee cup.” His face flushes and he quickly deposits the boxes of pastries on the cart. His neglected coffee cup is sitting there so he grabs it a long swallow of his coffee. This wouldn't be so annoying if the coffee wasn't so goddamn good.

“Most people wouldn’t be so pissed about a 9.5 out of 10. Wait, do you consider yourself a 10? I usually reserve the 10 until after I’ve slept with someone.” The look on Sean's face is completely serious, third container of coffee still in his arms.

Eduardo stares at him, open mouthed. This could be a very realistic nightmare, right? He's had plenty of dreams about bad things happening at Facebook. Usually they're limited to the site getting hacked or investors pulling out, but there's a first time for every type of nightmare. It's completely plausible that this nightmare is six feet tall and owns a coffee shop.

“The .5 is rewarded based on performance,” Sean says, before Eduardo can respond. “It’s kind of like the Olympics.”

Eduardo sighs. He rubs his forehead, already feeling phantom pain where he knows a headache is soon to pop up. “My coffee cup is not the place for you to try to get me involved in a fucking team sport.”

Sean quirks an eyebrow. “A _fucking_ team sport? I was just hoping you’d text me.”

“Oh my god. I am not having this conversation.” And like it's punctuation, he turns around and spares one last glance for the cannoli he wanted to grab in the pastry box. He steels himself against what he knows is delicious pastry and walks back into the main building. He’s too polite to walk away entirely but he doesn’t look at Sean as he holds the doors open.

*

“Eduardo,” Mark says with a note of panic in his voice as soon as Sean is in the room adjacent to the meeting room, “you didn’t tell me the coffee shop was owned by _Sean Parker_.”

He knows the name is familiar but can’t place it and he glances helplessly to Chris and Dustin, who are also staring at where Sean (apparently Parker) is setting up coffee and pastries.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t know,” Eduardo says, even though he’s not sorry. “And that also doesn’t _mean_ anything to me.” He glances back at Sean, wondering if he’s missed something, but the only recognition he can come up with is that Sean looks kind of like one of the guys from 98 Degrees. That’s a moot point since he’s not going to talk about why he knows what the Lachey brothers look like.

“He founded Napster,” Mark says like he thinks Eduardo is the stupidest person alive. (Eduardo has only received a handful of these over the years, stupidest person in the _room_ being much more common.)

_Oh_. There’s a tiny part of his brain that recognizes the name Sean Parker in relation to Napster. How the fuck was he supposed to know what the guy looked like? He isn’t the tech one of the group. He never did much of that online downloading anyway.

Sean, for his part, is trying to play it cool but Eduardo can see the hint of a smirk even from across the room. Maybe that’s why he’s daring enough to rate people on their coffee cups. Taking on the recording industry probably gives someone that kind of chutzpah.

Dustin pulls him aside as soon as Mark leaves the room to go talk to Sean about payment. “ _Sean Parker_ gave you his phone number! And you aren’t going to use it?”

“He still _rated me_ on my coffee cup.” He pauses, aware that he hadn’t actually revealed that bit of info. He’d been lucky enough to find a permanent marker in his car and scratch that out because he knows his friends and what they would say..

“Oh my god,” Dustin says delightedly. “What did he give you?”

“That is _really_ not the point Dustin.” He sighs, knowing that Dustin isn't going to give up and walk away. Honestly, that’s part of why Eduardo enjoys Dustin so much, but it’s always better when that intense smile is pointed at someone else. “9.5 out of 10,” he says placatingly, hoping this will end the conversation.

Dustin fucking _giggles_ before regaining his usual prying look. “And you aren’t going to call him?” There's a gleam in Dustin's eyes that Eduardo isn't sure he likes. It's definitely one that says 'oh yeah totally about to interfere in Eduardo's love life.'

“Jesus christ, Dustin, would you go out with someone who rated you on a coffee cup the first time you met them?” _No,_ Eduardo thinks. _Please say no_. Because Eduardo could use some more solid reasons.

“If they invented Napster and they looked like that? Yeah.” Dustin says it perfectly calmly, like Eduardo is an idiot for even considering not doing it.

Eduardo shrugs. “Business and pleasure. Can’t mix them, and Mark has officially made Sean part of the business.” He thinks that’s a conviction he can stick to. Probably.

*

He turns around and walks away, plopping down in his seat next to Mark. “I’m quitting,” he says to Mark casually.

“No, you aren’t, Wardo.” Mark doesn’t even look up from his computer screen. Eduardo makes these kinds of threats more than is probably healthy but imagining quitting makes him feel enough better to stick around.

Eduardo huffs out a breath and moves his chair all the way in against the desk. “I could quit, you know,” he says petulantly.

“Why would you quit?” Mark asks, actually giving him a quick glance before his eyes return to his computer screen.

Sometimes Eduardo wants to yell at Mark for being so self assured that Facebook is the only thing anyone could want. But it's unfortunately true. Eduardo wouldn't quit Facebook because he likes working with his friends and the work that he do. This is in addition to the fucking ridiculous amount of money they make. They're all billionaires. So yeah, he's not going anywhere.

“Just, you know. I could do it.”

Mark turns to him and rolls his eyes. “I'm getting more coffee,” he says. Eduardo watches him walk away and slumps down in his seat. They still have time before the meeting starts and Eduardo doesn't intend to be his peppy, professional self until then.

“Wardo, eh? It’s cute.” Eduardo opens his mouth to protest but Sean Parker has already slid into the chair next to him.

_When the fuck had Sean even left the other room?_

“Eduardo,” he says. “My name is Eduardo.” Mark and Dustin and Chris are the only ones in the world allowed to call him Wardo. Definitely not this Sean Parker person.

Sean laughs and it's one of those full body laughs. It makes him look even more attractive. “Okay, Eduardo. Well, I'm finished setting up so I'm headed off to accounting to pick up my money. I'll see you soon, yeah?”

“Maybe,” he says, not quite willing to concede the point. He watches Sean leave and hopes this will be the end of it. Next time he's running late, he's just going to call in.

*

He’s only _somewhat_ mortified by the time he makes it home that evening. He begrudgingly admits that Sean does make good coffee and pastries and seems to be great with people. He's not sure how his desire for caffeine this morning ended up with Facebook hiring Sean to cater all of their local meetings in the future. (Eduardo had told Mark no when it came to flying Sean out to the east coast because _seriously_.)

Eduardo has dated since Facebook has happened, sure, but it's not an easy thing to do. He doesn't want to date someone who wants special features on their Facebook page or sees him as a way to get an edging in the tech world. Mark has apparently solved that problem by hiring Sean for Facebook catering.

He shrugs off his suit coat and leaves it on the floor. The coat will need to be dry cleaned but he feels like the damn suit is choking him. The knot of his tie is pressing against his throat and he yanks at it as quickly as he can. The tie is definitely expensive enough to go on a hanger or dresser but he ends up tossing it on the floor.

The couch is a welcome relief after his weird, pastry stuffed day. He sprawls out lengthwise on it, letting his head sink against the armrest. Eduardo still doesn’t know why someone like Sean, all angles and attractiveness, would even be interested in _him._ Mark really doesn’t pay him enough, he decides, because only Mark Zuckerberg could take a potential romantic hook up and turn it into a business transaction.

He tugs out the coffee sleeve from his pocket, not sure how it ended up there, and tries to pull out the 9.5 from the scribbles he’d drawn through it.

It wasn’t the _worst_ come on he’s ever had.

*

Okay, so what if Eduardo develops a coffee habit for the Brazilian roast that Sean Parker has? He’s never been quite able to replicate it at home despite numerous attempts. And hey, he’s a billionaire. He’s allowed to have a coffee habit.

Especially if the purveyor of said coffee is tall and blond and infuriatingly attractive. Emphasis on infuriating because _seriously_ Sean might have been put on this earth just to torment him.

This morning he has an excuse though. He’d volunteered to pick up coffee and pastry orders for everyone this morning so now he doesn’t feel quite as embarrassed about coming in.

“Mr. Saverin,” Sean drawls as soon as Eduardo steps inside Latterrific. “Your usual?”

  
Eduardo flushes, mortified at having a regular already. But he’s determined not to behave that way. He’s a paying customer - a great tipping one, even - and he can be here. “Yeah, for me,” he says as he sidles up to the counter. He drops his eyes to the tip jar, emblazoned with Sean’s ridiculous handwriting (support counter intelligence) and sighs. “But I’ve got this, too.” He hands Sean the piece of paper containing all the complicated coffee orders for Mark, Dustin, and Chris.

“Aren’t those...reading glasses?” Eduardo asks dubiously as Sean takes off his glasses to read the piece of paper.

Sean laughs and produces another pair of glasses from below the register. “ _These_ are. Those are just for show.” He slips those on and begins murmuring coffee jargon to himself.

Eduardo, definitely not enjoying the sight of Sean reading coffee orders - because that’s pathetic, even by his own admittedly low standards, is bemused by the whole thing. “You wear fake glasses.” He pauses, shaking his head, because he can’t believe this is a real conversation. “You require actual glasses but wear fake ones.”

Sean grins at him and there’s a pleasant pit in Eduardo’s stomach that he’s positive is only because he hasn’t had breakfast yet. It’s nothing to do with those glasses and the way Sean was worrying his bottom lip while reading the coffee order. “The _real_ ones fog up when I’m operating the machinery.”

He sighs and pulls out his wallet, credit card at the ready to pay for the order. His fingers tap on the countertop as he aggressively looks anywhere except where Sean is expertly steaming milk and pulling levers and bending down to get more milk out of the fridge below the sink.

Eduardo has had a lot of not proud moments in life but he’s trying really hard not to add _boner in a coffee shop_ to his list. He conjures up thoughts of the meeting he has on Friday. The financial figures are in the forefront of his mind and he mentally scrolls through them.

A cough from Sean jolts him from his thoughts and he turns back to the counter with a sheepish smile. He thrusts his credit card at Sean, still jittery from a few minutes before. Sean takes it with a quirk of his lips and Eduardo does his best not to smile stupidly back. He tips a truly ridiculous amount on his card and tucks his card and receipt back in his wallet. Sean passes over a truly impressively packed bag of pastries and the four coffees with a “thanks, man.” Eduardo mumbles what he hopes passes for _have a good one_ on his way out the door.

It’s only when he gets to his car that he thinks to look at his cup. His coffee cup doesn’t have any writing on it at all. The rest are labeled with the appropriate contents but Eduardo’s is plain. It shouldn’t bother him. He should be relieved to have a plain coffee cup.

Usually his coffee is a shield against whatever bullshit he has to deal with during the day. Now it feels like a weakness.

*

“So,” Eduardo finally works up the courage to say after a few times visiting, “you’re the Napster guy.” He briefly reminds himself that he had no real reason to know the name Sean Parker since he wasn’t and isn’t a tech guy but it still feels strange. Sean is a rockstar in the right circles and Eduardo had become a part of those circles and yet he still didn’t realize it.

Sean preens, an immediate grin crossing his features, and leans in towards Eduardo. “I am,” he says. “I don’t normally do autographs, though.”

  
Eduardo splutters, because of all the ridiculous things he anticipated, that still somehow wasn’t one of them. He takes a sip of his coffee, the whole reason he’s here— well— mostly, so he can collect his thoughts. “How’d you end up here?” he asks bluntly. He cringes, starts to apologize, but Sean waves it off.

“Nah, it’s okay. It’s a pretty good story, actually.” Sean pauses, like he’s trying to work something out. “Hold that thought,” he says. Eduardo watches Sean rummage in the pastry counter and pull out two pieces of chocolate mousse cheesecake. “Sit, Eduardo, sit,” Sean calls.

He doesn’t know why he would say no so Eduardo does what Sean says and sits at his table. God, is he really coming here frequently enough to refer to something as his table? This coffee habit is going to ruin him, if the way Sean looks at him hasn’t already.

He only manages a few more sips of his coffee before Sean swoops down with those cheesecake slices and his own drink. “Here,” Sean says, sliding one of the pieces to him. “On the house.”

And, well, Eduardo is a billionaire but that doesn’t mean he’s going to turn down free cheesecake, honestly. He’ll drop more than the cost in the tip jar when he’s finished.

“Thanks.” He cuts a piece off and pops it into his mouth. “Ohmygod,” he says in a rush. “Why haven’t I had your cheese cake before?” He starts doing the mental math. That’s probably a few more sets of bench presses at the gym, another fifteen minutes of running, and maybe another ten minutes of core work out, but he could totally manage to have cheese cake every day if he did that.

“You’re pretty attached to the muffins,” Sean points out. “Let’s see— blueberry, chocolate chip, raspberry...”

“Okay, okay,” Eduardo concedes. “You’re right. My own fault.”

Sean quirks an eyebrow at the ‘fault’ bit but doesn’t say anything. “So. You want to know the story of Latterrific.” Sean takes a long sip of his coffee before setting it back down delicately. “It started with a high stakes game of poker.”

Eduardo blinks. He really has to stop assuming that he knows what Sean Parker is going to say because he wasn’t expecting poker to be how Sean got the coffee shop. “Okay,” he says. “Poker.”

“Yeah. Which devolved into just general betting. Dumb stuff, like betting someone a thousand dollars that they wouldn’t water balloon bomb a CEO meeting.” Sean pauses, smiles a bit predatorily before continuing, “That one was my idea. Anyway, it ends up that the group bet me that I wouldn’t run down a few streets naked right then.”

The coffee Eduardo is drinking catches in his throat mid-sip as his brain helpfully supplies imagining of Sean running around naked. He does his best to recover, setting his cup down gingerly. “Which you didn’t do, right?”

Sean laughs and shakes his head, taking a quick bite of his own piece of cheese cake. “What? No. Of course I did.”

“You won the coffee shop because of a glorified version of truth or dare,” Eduardo says with wonder.

Sean hedges away from his glance and shrugs. “Well. I did, but then they bet me that I couldn’t keep it going. And I refuse to lose, so here I am, with a successful coffee shop.” He pops another bite of cheese cake into his mouth and Eduardo watches as his lips slide around the fork. Sean smirks at him, like he knows what he’s thinking, and Eduardo flushes and hurriedly takes a bite of his own cheese cake.

“So was the awful name their idea or yours?” he can’t resist asking.

“Oh, Eduardo. Latterrific went through a rigorous screening list of names and this was the best one. Beat out some other pretty serious name contenders.”

Sean’s expression is serious and Eduardo has no idea if he’s joking or not. Sean’s face finally quirks and collapses into a smile, a huge one that makes Eduardo know he’d still be coming here even if the coffee was bad.

“Should I ask how much of that was bullshit?” He teases, because he doesn’t particularly care or even want to know. It’s enough to sit here with Sean and wonder about could be, instead of trying to wring out a past that might not exist.

Sean’s eyes widen dramatically and he clutches at his chest. “You _wound_ me, Saverin.”

*

This Latterrific thing is a problem and he’s had enough of Dustin pointing at his coffee cup every day and smirking. It’s just coffee. He can go wherever he damn well pleases to get it.

But it still eats at him, and so he consciously is going to a different coffee shop. He picked one off of Yelp, one with glowing reviews. It’s even got its own punny name: _Way Cup_. Which, honestly, is not nearly as good as Latterrific but he’s not going there today.

He sighs and pulls his car in on the street, grateful for free two hour street parking meaning he doesn’t have to go find a garage for a quick in and out. (Not like when he goes in for coffee from Sean, where he almost always ends up hitting close to the meter time.) It’s nice inside when he opens the door, pink with nice, generic tables. It’s such a contrast that Eduardo has to take a deep breath.

He’s relieved and simultaneously disappointed when he looks up to see someone who is definitely not Sean working the counter.

“Hello! Welcome to _Way Cup_. What can I get started for you?” The barista, cute and blonde, asks perkily.

Eduardo sighs and swipes his face with his hand. “Brazilian roast, please. Large.” He fumbles with his wallet while she prepares his drink. She hands him the drink, nice and warm, and rattles off the total. He’s not listening, so he hands her a fifty and tells her to keep the change.

He waits til he’s back in his car before he takes a sip of it. Fuck. He forgot to say no whipped cream. He’s so used to Sean _knowing_ that he didn’t think to specify.

The coffee isn’t bad really, it’s just not _Sean’s_ coffee which apparently matters.

“What, you didn’t go see Mr. Parker?” Dustin calls as Eduardo walks by on his way into the office.

He throws up a middle finger and considers it to be message sent.

“Wardoooo,” Dustin calls. “Come on.”

Eduardo turns around and takes another sip of his perfectly acceptable coffee. “I’m expanding my coffee horizons.”

“Does this mean you’re not going to let Sean expand _your_ horizons? Or does this mean he did and you found him poorly traveled?”

_God help me_ , Eduardo thinks. “I haven’t- I just-”

“You’ve just stopped going to your new favorite coffee shop for no reason?” Dustin asks, in what Eduardo knows is a perfectly reasonable tone.

“Yes,” Eduardo grinds out through his teeth. “Horizons. Boundaries. Can’t get locked into one coffee shop, you know.”

Dustin laughs and Eduardo sighs, having deja vu this early in the morning can’t be a good sign. “Technically, we have a business contract with him now, you know.”

“I was there,” Eduardo points out. “When he got hired. I was indirectly responsible. Unfortunately.” Why shouldn’t Facebook revolutionize his dating life, too? Even if it’s not via the internet and is actually because his best friend and boss is scarily efficient and sees opportunities where other people see polite social structure.

Dustin frowns. “Oh, shit, is he married? Or engaged? Something?” He looks seriously concerned, like he’s actually trying to picture Sean’s hand and if there was a ring on it.

“No!” Eduardo cries out. At least he doesn’t think so. Maybe he should... add Sean on Facebook. That’s how kids do it these days. Relationship status, interested in.

“So you’re just... not drinking his coffee anymore.” It’s amazing, Eduardo thinks, how Dustin can make something like that sentence seem like an accusation of murder.

“I don’t see you going there,” Eduardo says, a little unkindly. Dustin shrugs and holds his hand out for Eduardo’s coffee. Eduardo rolls his eyes and hands it over. He wasn’t that attached to it regardless. “I got it, because you always steal mine when you want some. You know Latterrific isn’t even that far away from the office!”

Dustin, meanwhile, is scowling at _his_ coffee cup. Eduardo snatches it back, somehow even more self conscious about his coffee choices. “Get your own coffee, Dustin.”

“I’ll have to,” Dustin says, wounded, “if that’s what you’re going to be drinking from now on.”

He tosses the almost full cup in the trash by the time he finally makes it to his office. He can see it sitting in his trashcan, taunting him, like he’s done something offensive to the universe.

Plus, he’s really missing that caffeine hit. Goddamnit.

*

See, Eduardo has a system for dealing with his cell phone. He gives it out to as few people as possible. His work number forwards to his cell phone but all those calls are labeled so he can ignore them if that’s what he feels like doing. That makes the amount of personal calls and messages he gets almost manageable, although if Dustin sends him another glurge email, he’s probably going to reroute his messages to trash. That’s why he’s confused about this unknown number that’s sent him a text message. He can’t seem to cross reference in it in his work database.

_missed you comin in today_ , it reads when Eduardo actually opens it.

He’s positive he never actually gave Sean his number. There have been many requests on Sean’s part but Eduardo has maintained his resolve. (Not that it really matters, since he ends up at Latterrific every morning, except for this one.)

_Sean?_ He hesitates over the text before hitting send. Maybe he should say something else that doesn’t make it seem like he knows exactly who it is.

_do you make daily stops @ other coffee shops?_

Eduardo cringes, like he didn’t feel guilty enough about it.

_I figured I was wearing out my welcome._ And that’s mostly true, because Eduardo doesn’t know what he wants to do with this Sean thing.

He pauses, before tapping out another message. _How did you even get my phone number, Sean?_

_you’ve called the shop from ur cell b4_

_I didn’t have time to get coffee this morning._

_you know i’d bring you some_

_How are you so infuriatingly considerate?_

_u like me saverin u just dont wanna admit it_

Eduardo sighs and sets his phone down. That’s enough texting with Sean Parker for one night.

His phone buzzes an hour later. _i’ll see u tomorrow then_

_Yeah_ , he texts back.

*

“Mark. If I didn't need coffee every morning just to deal with Facebook,” he pauses dramatically, “Sean Parker never would have happened to me.” Because that’s how it is. Sean Parker is something that _happened_ to him and somehow keeps happening.

Mark scowls at him. “You know, not all of us have attractive and genius men pounding down our doors to date us.”

Eduardo startles and straightens his back to look at Mark. He's made the joke before that Mark's profile should say “in a relationship with Facebook” but he didn't think that Mark was seriously lonely.

“He's not that bad of a guy,” Mark continues. “You are stupidly perfect for each other and you're the one fucking it up.” Mark looks up from his laptop to stare at Eduardo. “You're my best friend but I'm not going to have a ton of sympathy when you break his heart and decide you suddenly really liked him.” He slips headphones on before Eduardo can offer any sort of defense.

*

Chris is the only one of his friends who sees the problem with the Sean and Eduardo situation becoming a Sean _and_ Eduardo pairing.

“He reminds me a little of Christy,” Chris says. “You know, crazy, obsessive. But he hasn’t tried to set your apartment on fire, has he?”

Eduardo shudders at the comparison. It didn’t feel fair to Sean, since Sean hadn’t done anything but be persistently attracted to Eduardo. Christy had been truly mentally unwell—although she was getting help, the last he’d heard—and Sean was just...well...persistent. Nothing Sean does could be characterized as obsessive and Eduardo usually enjoys all of the attention. He’s not used to someone being so interested in him. “As much as it pains me to admit, I've never quite told him off.”

Chris' eyes lit up and Eduardo waves a hand. “Go ahead, text Dustin and tell him, I know that's what you want to do.”

He’s totally doomed when it comes to Sean Parker, if even his friends don’t have more than a cursory sort of resistance to the idea.

*

Because of his self imposed schedule, Eduardo doesn’t actually get to go out on that many dates. He actually met John at a business meeting for young Palo Alto companies and John had been the only bright spot to the awful meeting. When John asked him for coffee, he’d said yes without much thought to it.

Naturally, because his life is a goddamn joke, he agrees to let John pick him up. The conversation is easy enough on the way there and he’s nervous enough that he’s focused more on not biting his nails that he doesn’t realize where they are.

He huffs out a breath and tries not to roll his eyes where John can see. Maybe Sean won’t be working. Eduardo doesn’t really go by the shop in the evenings so it could be the case. He tentatively follows John into the shop and offers a few prayers to every god he can think of.

"Oh, Eduardo, I didn't think I'd see you here," Sean says as he soon as he steps inside. Eduardo considers if he can distract both Sean and his date long enough for him to leave out the back exit. He's not sure where the back exit is but he knows there has to be one for fire code regulations.

"Do you two know each other?” John asks. “I didn't know you'd been to this coffee shop before! Isn't it great?"

The smirk on Sean’s face is so large that Eduardo considers that his face might actually get stuck that way. The universe is unfair enough that Sean relaxes back into an easy smile and hasn’t suddenly been struck mute.

"He caters some meetings at work," Eduardo says at the same time Sean says, "he comes in every morning at 8:55am." He glares at Sean and imagines how great it would feel to punch him in the face. Pretty damn good. Then he makes the mistake of imagining Sean with a black eye and bloody lip. It should not turn him on the way it does, dammit.

His date gives him a worried look so Eduardo smiles appeasingly. "Yep, I like Latterific,” he says, grimacing as he pronounces the awful pun.

When they order their drinks, Sean insists it's on the house. "Two of my best customers!" John seems grateful but Eduardo knows Sean. There has to be something going on there. It’s not that Sean isn’t good with free drinks - Eduardo gets them sometimes and he’s seen Sean give them away - but there’s a glint in Sean’s eyes that Eduardo has seen in Dustin’s.

He snags the tray when their order is ready and brings it back to their table. He fiddles with the sleeve on the cup, bizarrely disappointed there's no secret writing on it. Eduardo shrugs mentally and smiles at John, determined to enjoy himself _despite_ Sean's presence.

When he takes a sip of his coffee, it takes all his best efforts not to spit it out. It tastes _awful_. It’s like Sean took everything Eduardo hates about coffee and put it in one cup. He still ends up needing a napkin to wipe it off his mouth as quickly as possible. "I'll be right back," he says politely and marches up to the counter, brandishing his cup.

"This isn't what I ordered," he says to Sean as nicely as he can. It isn’t all that nice, honestly, but Sean knows exactly what he likes to drink and then gave him the opposite.

"Oh, sorry, I thought I'd make your drink to match your date there. Bland, boring, out of date,” Sean says blithely, fingers tapping on the counter.

"Sean," he says tightly, ignoring the sparkle in Sean's eyes, "will you please make me what I actually ordered?"

"Nah, I'll make you something better, though. Something you'll _like_."

Eduardo rolls his eyes so hard he imagines Sean can feel it too. At least Sean's quick about it; Eduardo only has to wait a few moments for his new drink.

He doesn't spy the writing on the side of his cup until he sits back down, issuing apologies to John. "Sorry,” he says, “Sean added the wrong kind of syrup and I can't drink it."

John laughs and starts to talk about the businesses he's involved in and Eduardo nods along politely. The date had been going really pretty well until Sean had gotten involved. John is nice enough, and they have things in common.

Eduardo happens to readjust the sleeve on his cup to see 5.5/10 with a sad face.

Great. Now Sean is ranking his dates. Like he really needed to spend any more time worrying what Sean Parker thinks of his life. Any time spent doing that is too much. Eduardo doesn’t want to care about Sean’s opinions but he somehow does. It’s like someone’s looped in some music demanding he pay attention to Sean in the constant hum in his head.

*

It was Dustin’s idea to drag them out to a club and Eduardo went along with it because, well, he’s grateful for his friends. Also Dustin threatened to just drag him there if he refuse. It’ll be like the old days at Kirkland, he thinks, the four of them.

“Mark said he’s already here,” Dustin shouts over the crowd and music.That seems a little out of character for Mark but he shrugs and heads to the bar to pick up his first round. He gets vodka shots for all of them and brings them back to the table.

And...there’s Sean Parker, looking fucking _amazing_ in a button up shirt and tight jeans. There doesn’t seem to be as much gel in his hair as usual and it’s a good look for him, Eduardo thinks begrudgingly. He’s leaning over the table, of course he can’t be seated like a normal person, and has to _stand_ like that.

He slides into the booth and ignores the way Sean looks at him. “I bought us shots, but I didn’t know Mark brought a plus one.” He kicks Mark under the table.

“Don’t worry,” Sean says. “I’ve got the next round.”

Eduardo waits until Sean is out of earshot. “Really, Mark? You invited Sean?”

“I know you two have your issues, or whatever,” Mark waves his hand dismissively, “but I like hanging out with him.” There’s a pit of jealousy springing up in his stomach about the thought of the two of them spending time together. Mark seems oblivious to the thunderstorm of feelings in Eduardo’s mind but Dustin gives him a pat on the shoulder like he knows exactly what’s going in there. He gives Dustin a weak smile in return and knows then that he’s going to get spectacularly drunk tonight.

When Sean comes back, it’s with shots of varying colors and sizes. Eduardo scoots over in the booth to let Sean sit down but Sean is already lowering himself into the spot next to Mark. Eduardo takes his vodka shot from the tray and slams it back like he’s issuing a challenge.

_Sean doesn’t even look at him_. Which is good. That’s what he’s wanted all along, for the Sean Parker variety hour to exit his love life. Sean is talking directly into Mark’s ear and Eduardo grimaces in disgust. He takes a shot from the center of the table and tries to let the burn of the alcohol cover up how he can’t look away from Sean.

He’s not sure what’s in these shots but he also doesn’t care one bit. Alcohol is his only requirement for the night.

He talks to Dustin and Chris instead of trying to cut in on the Sean and Mark conversation. He rarely gets to see Chris and Dustin outside of work settings since they are all still working so hard at this hip, young, business thing.

*

He’s at that horrible stage of drunkenness where he still remembers what’s driven him to drink but it hasn’t made him feel invincible enough not to care. _Fuck_ , he thinks, and wonders how many shots it’ll take for him to forget the way Mark and Sean were looking at each other.

The dance floor might help him. He’s never been a great dancer but this is the kind of club where it’s more about the beat and the bodies than anything else. He insinuates himself in the middle of crowd and lets himself be led into a dance with a guy who definitely doesn’t look like Sean. The guy is touching him in all the right spots and Eduardo is just about to suggest they take this somewhere a little more private. But then the guy is _gone_ and it’s Sean next to him instead. He’s furious, that Sean is here, doing this to him.

“I didn’t think you liked to dance,” Sean says lowly into his ear and Eduardo bites back a groan. He wishes it were because he’s mad but it has everything to do with the fact that Sean is pressed against him.

Eduardo twists away to face Sean and drags him in close. “Maybe,” he says, “I just don’t like to dance with you.” Sean snakes an arm around his waist even before Eduardo finishes his sentence and the heft of his arm makes Eduardo feel a little delirious.

Sean grabs him then, kisses him, and Eduardo can taste the vodka on his lips and maybe the smoky scent of a cigarette. The fabric of Sean’s shirt is soft where it touches his arms and that pisses him off. Sean isn’t supposed to _surprise_ him like this; he’s supposed to be a standard asshole that Eduardo can categorize and ignore as necessary. (When did Sean become something other than unnecessary, anyway?)

Eduardo kisses him back, sufficiently drunk that his brain isn't getting in the way of this. Sean laughs when they pull apart, but it's soft. “Wardo,” he says. Hearing Sean say his name makes Eduardo shiver and plaster himself against Sean.

“You came here with Mark,” Eduardo accuses, even as he then dips his head down to suck bruises into Sean's neck.

“Is that what you think that is? God, Wardo.” The end of his name comes out as a whine when Eduardo bites into the skin on his neck. The noise sounds like a victory, like Eduardo is slaughtering his own internal monologue that's trying to keep them apart. Sean's hands encircle his wrists and he drags Eduardo from the middle of the dance floor to the side of the club. He shoves Eduardo against the wall, lips dragging down to Eduardo's collarbone. “I only came because I thought you'd be here.”

“I doubt that.”

Sean chuckles against his skin, and snakes one of his hands to the pocket of Eduardo's jeans. Eduardo can't help the way he presses forward against Sean in response. “Maybe not entirely,” Sean admits as he moves back up to kiss Eduardo again, grinding against him. “But I'm not complaining about this.” Eduardo tightens a fist in Sean's shirt, suddenly determined to wrinkle it and leave a mark. He feels like Sean shows up and does it to him all the time, like he has Sean Parker vapors coming off of him all the time. It's only fair that he gets to debauch Sean a little in return.

Sean shifts against him and there's that hot heat of Sean's dick rubbing against him through their jeans. Why are they in a public place when they could be somewhere private and Sean could be fucking him? A corner of his mind is telling him to slow down but Eduardo honestly doesn't want to pay attention. What he wants is Sean and for several layers of clothing to be missing.

He breaks away from Sean, even though doing so feels like a sin in itself. “Bathrooms?” Sean looks startled for a moment before he catches on.

“Yeah, baby,” he says. Sean gives him one last kiss, heavy and hot enough to make his toes curl, before he drags him along the back wall to the bathroom. “Thank god for unisex bathrooms,” Sean mutters and Eduardo laughs. The door is locked behind them and Sean stares at him for a moment, like he's not sure what he's allowed to do.

But Eduardo doesn't want Sean to ask him anything, to say something that could jostle Eduardo out of this state of drunkenness. The bathroom is dark enough that Eduardo can pretend he's somewhere else but still well lit enough for him to make out Sean's features.

“I hate your hair,” he says as he sets his fingers into Sean's hair and yanks, feeling product crumble into his hands. Sean is on him so quickly that Eduardo can barely gasp out a moan before Sean is kissing him again. The jeans Sean is wearing are ridiculously tight, even by Sean's standards, and Eduardo can't fucking deal with it anymore. He flips their positions, pushing Sean against the door, and reaches down to grab at the front of Sean's jeans. He gets a hiss in response and Eduardo knows exactly how this is going to happen. Sean whines, kissing him again, and nibbling on his bottom lip. “And your stupid jeans,” he says. “I can't fucking believe you.”

He's got the button open on Sean's jeans and he's sliding the zipper down. There's a line here that's about to be crossed, and he shouldn't be doing it drunk and angry, but Eduardo has never been good at talking himself down from choices like this. He has a memory of another bathroom, with his back against the door, and he sucks and bites on Sean's lip til it draws blood.

“Holy _fuck_ ,” is what Sean says when Eduardo is taking his cock out of his pants. He thinks about making a crack about Sean not wearing underwear but he has a blow job to give. Sean's cock is heavy in his hand and already slippery with precome.

Yeah, it's on. Here's the thing: Eduardo has sucked a lot of dick in his life. It's something he likes a lot and he's never worried too much about his technique. But like fucking always, Sean makes him care more than he wanted to.

He gives Sean one last kiss and pushes Sean's jeans down far enough to make this easy. He sucks in a shuddering breath and slides down onto his knees, doing his best not to think about the cleanliness of the floor. Sean makes a noise that Eduardo is pretty sure means good things so he slides his mouth around Sean's cock.

Sean's hips jerk and then recede, like Sean is desperately trying to control the motion. He glances up at Sean and likes what he sees, a Sean who is paying attention to only him. Eduardo sets a hand at the base of Sean's cock, pumping slowly while he sucks. It's been a long time since he's actually done this and he didn't remember just how exquisite this could be. And yeah, he's being a little ridiculous about a blow job, but it's one he's fantasized about for a while.

He braces his other hand on Sean's hip, near that tattoo that drives him mad, and does his best to deep throat Sean. He's out of practice but Sean doesn't care, his hands settling in Eduardo's hair. His fingers curl but don't yank and Eduardo is remarkably charmed by this, that Sean isn't demanding this but still definitely enjoying it.

He slides his mouth off of Sean's shaft and sucks on the very tip of his cock. Sean looks down at him and sees Eduardo looking at him, and Sean shudders. “Fuck, Wardo.” Eduardo laughs internally because yeah, that's the point, and puts his mouth back on Sean's dick. There's more precome now and Eduardo knows he's going to swallow whenever Sean orgasms. He tongues against the vein that runs along the shaft and Sean's hips stutter. Eduardo moves his hand from Sean's hip, and rolls Sean's balls in his hand.

Sean tries to shift Eduardo's head and Eduardo knows Sean is trying to warn him but he doesn't pull away. When Sean orgasms, he's saying Eduardo's name like an offering. The come is hot and sticky and Eduardo does his best to swallow it all. He can't quite manage it and wipes off the remainder on the inside of Sean's pants. It's kind of gross, but they aren't _his_ pants.

He stands up from the floor slowly, his knees protesting, but it's worth it for the look Sean turns on him. He's always thought the word smoldering wasn't something real people did but that's definitely what Sean is doing. Sean's lips seek his out and Eduardo groans against them. “Fucking unbelievable.” Sean reaches a hand between them and fumbles with Eduardo's belt. “Of course you're wearing a fucking belt,” Sean says exasperatedly. Sean's breath catches on Eduardo's ear and he shudders against him.

“Sean, c'mon, please...” He's not begging, he's pleading, and he can be embarassed about it later. There's a low chuckle in his ear as Sean finally pushes his belt aside and unbuttons his jeans. There's a moment that feels like it's happening in slow motion, where Sean pushes his hand inside his underwear while he's telling Eduardo how fucking hot he is. Sean's hand is rough and Sean knows what he's doing, given that Eduardo is biting his own lip to try to keep somewhat quiet. Sean's thumb slides over the slit of his cock and Eduardo almost jumps. He can't keep his eyes open but having them closed isn't acceptable either so he does his best to watch this happening, eyes sliding closed more often than they stay open.

“Yeah, just like that Wardo, you're so fucking good,” Sean whispers into his ear. “Your cock is so nice, I knew it'd be this nice.” Sean jerks him slowly, keeping him right on that edge but not letting him actually get off and Eduardo wants to sob. Cool air hits his cock as Sean pulls down his boxers. “Oh, fuck,” Sean says. “Just— hang on.”

Sean's hand disappears and Sean kisses him hungrily before he's the one getting onto his knees. Eduardo opens his eyes long enough to see Sean deep throat him. “Oh my god,” he thinks he says but he can't be sure because language seems like a higher function right now. Sean presses a hand against Eduardo's hip, holding him in place, and that's what pushes him over the edge.

It takes Eduardo some time to come back out of the _holy fuck orgasm_ phase in his brain but Sean is there next to him when he recovers, holding him close. “Oh my god,” Eduardo says.

Sean smirks and kisses him gently, paying careful attention to avoid putting pressure on any of the places where they've bitten each other. Eduardo doesn't melt into him, not exactly, but he definitely lets his body relax into Sean's own. “Yeah,” Sean says and kisses him again.

Eduardo sighs happily against Sean and pulls back only to start fixing his own clothes. He's yanking his pants back up and lamenting the state of them when he catches his reflection in the mirror. His pants are still undone, shirt wrinkled and half undone, and he definitely has sex hair. The zipper on his pants won't close all the way and the real world starts encroaching on this little slice of fantasy. “Fuck,” he half yells as the zipper pull snaps off. Sean is just watching him carefully like he doesn't know what to do.

“This?” Eduardo says while he frantically rebuttons his shirt, “didn't happen.” Even as the panic starts to crest over him, he can't resist leaning in to kiss Sean one more time, since he knows he won't be doing it again. He runs his thumb along Sean's lower lip and pulls back before he can try to convince himself this was okay.

Sean stares at him dazedly for less than a second before he's grabbing at his own pants and trying to make himself look presentable. “What do you mean, this didn't happen? My clothes clearly say otherwise.” The joking tone falls flat and Eduardo cringes, embarrassment on the rise.

“We’re drunk. Plausible deniability.” Eduardo laughs, somewhat hoping that Sean will laugh the whole encounter off too. _I'm too drunk for this_ , he thinks as he walks out from the bathroom, leaving Sean behind. “I’m just gonna... head home.”

He slips out the back door of the club and manages to hail a taxi before Sean can make it outside. Not that— Sean is necessarily _looking_ for him or anything but Eduardo doesn't want that to happen if he can help it.

He'd had a good thing, before he got pissy and jealous and hooked up with Sean in a bathroom. Now that's probably the kibosh on all of that.

*

Eduardo wakes up with maybe the worst hangover he's ever had and he used to go to lame frat parties. He only remembers snatches of the night before. He rubs at his eyes blearily and rolls over to his nightstand for the glass of water he keeps there. Any time he plans a night out drinking, he tries to leave a glass of water on his nightstand. Thank god he did that last night because water might be the only thing to keep him alive. The water is cool when it hits his throat and he makes a silent promise to never drink again. It won't stick, of course, but it makes him feel a little better right now. By the time he has the full glass of water down, his memory is starting to come back. They went to a club for some godforsaken reason and Sean had been there.

Sean. He groans. He remembers fighting and a bathroom stall and getting on his knees. Oh, fuck. He fumbles for his phone and sees that he has twelve new texts. The screen on his phone is too bright to be comfortable and he turns it down to the lowest setting.

_Eduardo. Are you okay?_ \- From Chris. God bless Chris. Just being nice and concerned.

There are three texts from Dustin consisting mostly of question marks and exclamation points. There's even a few interrobangs scattered in there. It's a little impressive, actually.

_We can't find Sean either. ARE YOU AND SEAN FINALLY GETTING IT ON?_ \- Eduardo sighs. It's not like Dustin was wrong, exactly. Fuck.

_Sean's upset. What the shit did you do?_ This time, from Mark. Eduardo bristles at that. He figures he should have Mark's loyalty given how long they've known each other at this point but apparently not. It makes him angrier than he feels like dealing with right now so he swallows all of that down.

_What do you mean he was upset?_ He texts back.

Eduardo stares at the text on his phone like it'll go away. _Whatever, mark & I had fun anway_ From Sean, and given that timestamp... Eduardo squints at his alarm clock. Sean sent that four hours ago, which means that he'd probably just gotten home.

His stomach feels hot and sick at the thought of Mark and Sean out at the club together, moving closer and closer together, Sean telling Mark one of his dumb stories.

_No_ , he thinks. He has no reason to distrust Mark or even to believe that Sean would do anything like that.

_Don't do that_ he texts back to Sean, even though there's bile rising in his throat.

He doesn't say anything else, doesn't try to acknowledge what happened last night. Maybe Sean will forget about it and they can pretend nothing ever happened. And Eduardo won't have to worry about fucking someone else up because that's all that's going to happen from him and Sean being together.

Of course Eduardo got smashed at a club and hooked up with him in a bathroom stall and hightailed it out of there. It's probably a miracle that it hadn't happened before.

He lets his phone fall back on his bed and he rolls away from it. Maybe if he closes his eyes long enough, he'll be able to sleep.

It works, actually, which is surprising. He dreams of better things, like Sean bringing him spaghetti and accidentally bringing the wrong kind of wine. Eduardo's corkscrew breaks and they have to puncture it with a knife, soaking Sean's white t-shirt with red wine.

He wakes up drenched in sweat, clutching one of his pillows close. The sunlight is streaming in his bedroom window and he squints at his clock. One pm? Eduardo almost never sleeps that late. If he doesn't get a shower soon, the government will probably declare him a hazard zone.

His knees protest at his getting out of bed and Eduardo can see beginning blooms of bruises on his knees. _Note to self: you're getting too old for blowjobs on grimy bathroom floors in clubs where the music causes headaches upon entry._

He pulls his clothes off, tossing them in a messy pile, when he gets in the bathroom. The mirror taunts him when he leans in and Eduardo cringes at his reflection. The shower water he turns to scalding because it's the only way he thinks he can erase the smell of Sean and alcohol from his skin. The spray of water on his skin leaves him feeling strung out when he steps into the shower but at least he won't smell like last night’s unfortunate events.

He scrubs shampoo into his hair, using more than he needs, because he’s got to get the product and stale cigarette smoke from his hair. There were at least four cigarettes bummed last night because that’s how desperately drunk he tried to get. When he thought he might hook up with someone random at a club and escape from Sean Parker's constant presence. The water turns cold for a moment and Eduardo shivers. He can almost picture Sean here, with Sean on his knees this time, and Eduardo groans. He switches the water to cold only for the rest of his shower and when he gets out he feels almost human. Almost, except for the part where there’s a gaping hole somewhere around the area of his heart.

He doesn't dive for his phone the second he finishes his shower but he does check it quickly, hoping. There's one text from Dustin comprised mostly of emoticons that Eduardo rolls his eyes at but there's nothing from Sean.

_Speak of the devil_ , Eduardo thinks as his phone vibrates.

_Do what? Run off after a bathroom hookup?_

His fingers clench around his phone and he takes a steadying breath. _Do that...bullshit. You and Mark, like there's something there._

_Cut the shit. Why'd you run off._

_I was drunk and stupid. I'm not good at this sort of thing._

_Obviously_

_But you were all over Mark! I wouldn't have done it_

_you wouldn't have done what, wardo_

_I didn't want us to hook up at a fucking dance club, okay. Underneath my shitstorm facade, there's something more important there than just hooking up with you._

_oh_

Eduardo sighs. Of course that's what he gets. His phone buzzes again.

_So what ur saying is u like me but ur shitty about showing it_

_Or something._

_i can work w that_

*

“So, Saverin, when are you going to let me take you out?” Sean calls from behind the counter.

Eduardo sighs and opens up his newspaper. “Not tonight, Sean. I have an investor’s meeting.” He doesn’t realize he didn’t say _no_ until he looks up and sees Sean’s face.

“You didn’t say no,” Sean says with a little bit of awe. “You’re totally falling for my charm, not that anyone could blame you.” He's leaning on the counter, staring at Eduardo, and Eduardo suppresses a shudder of heat. He's pretty sure they would be dating and fucking, one or the other if not both by now, if Sean hadn't rated him on the coffee cup to begin with. But then again, would he really have come back to Latterrific for the coffee? He's not a coffee snob by any stretch, even if he does try to avoid Starbucks. He’d probably still be coaxing life into his coffee machine from Harvard.

Eduardo sighs again and takes another sip of his admittedly delicious coffee. “You get less charming by the second.” Still, he looks up at Sean and gives him a genuine smile. He doesn't remember the last time someone was interested in him _before_ they knew the whole Facebook story. (Admittedly, Sean found out quickly, but there’d been that phone number.) Mark, of course, has instant face recognition, but Eduardo manages to fly under the press radar so that people say he looks familiar from somewhere. A shrug and a mention of having one of those faces is usually dissuading enough.

Sean plops down into the seat across from him and yanks away his newspaper. “I was reading that,” Eduardo protests half heartedly because, unfortunately, he likes talking to Sean.

“So,” Sean says, “given that you said _yes_...” The only defense Eduardo has is his coffee cup and he picks it up and takes a few desperate swallows. It scalds a little going down but at least that gives him a few moments to pretend he hasn't heard what Sean just said. “I was thinking...you like theater, right? There's a touring production of [title of show].”

It's not a secret that Eduardo likes theater; he tries to go regularly, he just never thought Sean had paid attention to that bit. He generally assumes Sean doesn't listen to anything that isn't sex or coffee. “What do you mean, _title of show_? Do you know what it's called?”

Sean laughs. “Ha! I got you, Saverin. That's what it's called. A friend of mine in NYC swears it's one of the funniest shows she's seen.” He coughs and adjusts his glasses, and then clears his throat. “Title of show: a musical about writing a musical.” There's a quick shrug of the shoulders, one Eduardo knows means that Sean is feeling unsure. “If it's not your scene, whatever. I can give the tickets away.”

Sean Parker. Asshole with a heart of gold. Maybe this _is_ some gay knock off Lifetime movie. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I'd like that.” _As friends_ , he considers adding, but the smile on Sean's face is too broad for Eduardo to even think about dimming it.

That kind of sounds like a date. Fuck.

*

Okay, the show is surprisingly really good. He doesn’t know how Sean managed to get his taste pinned so accurately, but this made him laugh in all the right places. He’s loose limbed and happy when they leave the theater, and Sean’s hand against the small of his back feels welcome.

It’s sort of a date, he thinks. He’s not sure how he feels about the idea of dating Sean Parker, but this is going really smoothly. Eduardo has spent a lot of time trying to control this sort of thing, but why label this?

“Why don’t we,” Sean says lowly, “go back to my place. I’ll make you something delicious to drink.”

Eduardo hasn’t been able to turn down one of Sean’s drinks yet.

*

It wasn't Chris who decided Facebook had to do a big push for Pride week, despite what people might assume. It was Dustin's idea. He wanted to be supportive and they were in California now, right?

Eduardo thinks it's a great idea for Facebook to show support for the queer community, given that he's a member of it. He's out, he guesses, but he still prefers to keep his love life quiet. This hasn't changed from when he thought he was straight. He just doesn't think it's really anyone's public business.

Of course, that means he's the one who gets barraged with questions about Facebook's donations to Palo Alto's pride parade. He doesn't see what the big deal is with it. But apparently anything that involves Facebook is a big deal. Mark could've gone on air, maybe, but they try to limit his PR appearances to things he's less likely to offend someone ever. Tech conferences are the best bet.

So that's why he's the one on a local news program (Channel 5! Palo Alto's finest!) to discuss Facebook's donations and it's queer friendly workplace policy. The host is an older man who reminds Eduardo of his father. That should be the first sign that something is going to go horribly wrong.

"Facebook. The social networking site that's taken the country by storm," the anchor starts out. Eduardo nods politely; he's used to the spiel about how Facebook has revolutionized the world. It's different hearing it than it was living it and he's got it mostly down pat by now. His suit is too hot under the lights for the camera but it's too late for him to do anything about it now.

"So. Facebook has come out - if you'll excuse my phrasing - in support of gay rights."

"Yes," Eduardo says. "This is just a formalization of what was already unofficial company policy. We're an equal opportunity employer and we support the rights of the queer community to a greater extent than mandated by law."

Something about what he says makes the man (Paul? Dave? Steven? He's not sure) twitch in his seat. Eduardo is amused by it and does his best to hide his smirk from the camera.

"Is this because of yourself and Chris Hughes?"

The light in the room goes dark for one second and Eduardo wills his lungs into breathing normally. He wasn't expecting this kind of question from this local news program.

"I'm sorry?" he asks. "I don't understand what you mean." He can imagine the face Chris is making right now and how the entire PR department must be on standby ready to deal with his answer.

The man coughs, uncomfortable, before leaning in to stare at Eduardo. "Well, you know..."

"No," Eduardo says sharply. "I don't know." He pauses and sends a silent apology to Chris. "If you're implying that we only support queer rights because of the sexualities of people in the higher ups, that's untrue. Facebook is a company built on changing the world. We can't do that if we cut out a core segment of the population."

He really hopes this isn't one of the few times his father chooses to watch his public appearances.

"Why all the donations? Facebook hasn't made donations like this before."

The chance is there so Eduardo seizes it. "Oh, you think this is something new. If you're paying closely to our donations, you'll see an even uptick in donations with the increase in Facebook profits."

The interview concludes quickly after that and Eduardo leaves as soon as is possible. There's nothing about this he wants to remember and he only hopes that he behaved himself well enough that Chris won't yell at him.

He takes a taxi back to the office even though he could walk. The thought of walking on the streets and running into people right now makes him want to be sick. His phone is buzzing when he finally digs it out of his pocket.

It's actually a relief to see that it's Sean calling him and not Chris.

"Hello?" Eduardo wonders vaguely if Sean saw the interview.

"Your coffee's getting cold," Sean says.

"I didn't go by the shop today," he points out. Clearly Sean knows that or he wouldn't be calling.

"Eduardo. I always have your coffee ready."

"Fine," he says. He hangs up his phone and tells the cab driver to take him to Latterrific instead. On his way, he texts Chris to apologize and says he'll come in later this afternoon. Chris doesn't immediately respond with threats so maybe the whole thing didn't go as poorly as he thought.

He hands the driver a fifty, even though that's more than double the cost of his fare, just so he can get inside.

"Woah, Eduardo, you look like shit,” is the first thing that Sean says to him when he walks in the door. Eduardo rolls his eyes.

"I was just on tv making a fool out of myself. Cut me some slack."

"One Eduardo Saverin special," Sean says as he walks over to his regular table and sets down a coffee and a chocolate chip muffin.

Oh, fuck, breakfast. He'd turned down all the food at the station because he was already feeling queasy. "Oh my god, thank you." Eduardo sits down in his favorite easy chair and Sean perches next to him.

"You went on tv looking like that?" Eduardo flushes under Sean's glance and he preposterously feels the need to defend himself.

"Is there something wrong with how I'm dressed?"

Sean's eyes flick back to his face and he smiles at him. "No, no. There's _nothing_ wrong with how you look right now."

Eduardo wishes he couldn't say the same about Sean but Sean always looks good. Today it's dark blue jeans and a faded t-shirt from the annual Palo Alto 5K run. It's effortlessly attractive. Eduardo has to spend hours with a tailor and constantly tries out new hair product yet here's Sean Parker, who probably did roll out of bed ten minutes before opening the shop, looking entirely put together.

He coughs, ready to say something smooth to Sean, when he sees a woman trudging down the back stairs of Sean's apartment into the kitchen of the coffee shop. She's very beautiful and maybe that's why Sean is in such a good mood this morning. He can't erase the images from his head, of Sean taking a long, hot shower with this woman. She probably gets to touch the tattoo on his hip and leave bite marks on his thighs.

"Amelia, hey. Have you met Eduardo?" Of course Sean is going to be perfectly polite and avoid making this situation embarrassing. But Eduardo can't do it - not today. Not after Sean looked at him like that and made him get that stupid flush he always gets when he’s around Sean. The way Sean looks at him makes Eduardo wonder if he’s being liquified sometimes.

He grabs his briefcase and pushes up from his chair. He puts his phone in one hand and grabs his coffee with the other. He spares the half consumed muffin a forlorn glance.

And then he lets excuses fall out of his mouth. "Sorry, hi, I have to run. Work meeting. I'm sure Chris is pissed at me." Amelia looks confused but nods and waves.

"Wardo—"

Eduardo smiles and doesn't even berate Sean for using his nickname. "I'll let you two get back to your day."

The sound of the door closing and the bell tinkling behind him feels like a bucket of ice water. That's why he's never pursued anything with Sean. The one night stand lifestyle is something Eduardo tried out briefly when Facebook first got started but it's not something he can handle any more. Sean can do what he wants, of course, but Eduardo can't watch it go down and hope for something different.

_u didn’t even eat ur pastry_

_Late. Sorry._

_c’mon, wardo, don’t give me that_

_I’m not sure how much of my tv appearance you saw, but Chris was not thrilled._

_well a) it was fine and b) u always hide out here from chris_

_You were busy._

_amy?? she wanted 2 meet u & u just walked out._

_Sorry I didn’t want to meet your beautiful girlfriend?_

_wardo. amy and i are friends._

  
Eduardo flushes hot, suddenly aware of how ridiculous he’s being.

His phone pings again. _don’t be so ridiculous._

_I’ll try._

*

Eduardo is too sick for work, honestly, so he calls in. He doesn’t remember the last time he used a sick day but Chris is always harping on him about accumulating too many of them. _Everything_ hurts. Throat, nose, ears, muscles. Maybe he was unlucky enough to get one of the flu strains that wasn’t in this year’s vaccination.

He sighs and emails everyone he’s in daily contact with to tell them he won’t be quick with responses. He actually feels bad enough to put his cell phone on silent. No one is going to interrupt his sleep today.

He drifts in and out of sleep, having to adjust the blanket what seems like constantly. He tries to remember if it’s starve a cold or feed a fever. The bed is welcoming enough, though, and the california king yields perfectly to his body.

A sharp knock comes to his door and his immediate, ridiculous thought is to think of Poe and ravens. Who would even show up today? Everyone important knows that he’s sick and to leave him the hell alone.

Maybe it’s an emergency, some sort of financial crisis at the office. It’s this thought that manages to make Eduardo crawl out of bed. The knocking comes again more insistently and Eduardo grouses a “Coming!”

He swings the door open and sighs at the sight of Sean Parker holding a few bags and two drinks.

“You didn’t come in this morning,” Sean says as he breezily enters the apartment.

Eduardo closes the door and wonders why this became his life. “Yes, because I’m deathly ill.”

“I called Mark. He was deep in coding but he disconnected enough to tell me you were sick. So! Here I am, to take care of you.”

Oh god, Eduardo can’t roll his eyes with enough ferocity for the situation. Sean Parker, taking care of somebody? He might be more feverish than he thought.

“I brought soup!” Sean continues while pulling out containers from the bag and placing them on the kitchen counter. Eduardo’s traitor stomach growls and Sean grins. “See, I knew you needed me here.”

Eduardo shuffles into the kitchen fully and plops down at his kitchen table. The soup _does_ smell good and he can’t recall the last time someone took care of him. That’s always been Eduardo’s role in the group.

Sean sets the soup down in front of him with a spoon before sitting down himself. Eduardo dips his spoon in and smiles. This is the good chicken noodle soup, with thick noodles and vegetables galore. “Wow, where did you buy this?” he says after his first bite.

Sean’s expression switches quickly before settling back to neutral but Eduardo is too damn tired to decipher it. “Umm,” he says, “I made it for you?” Eduardo coughs on his spoonful of soup but manages to make a recovery and swallow the rest of it.

“Oh,” he says. “I didn’t know your kitchen talents extended to soup.” Pastries and beverages, sure, but that’s baking, not cooking.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about my talents, Saverin,” Sean replies, with one of the most impressive eyebrow waggles Eduardo has ever seen. And he’s friends with Dustin Moskovitz so that’s really saying something about the quality of this particular one.

“God! Can’t you ever be serious?” The fever is going to his head, he thinks, because he never talks to Sean like that, no matter how irritating Sean can be. But how is he supposed to feel about this whole thing when Sean just acts like it’s some sort of joke, that Eduardo is a fool for not giving in? Eduardo is allowed to have autonomy in his life and he is perfectly capable of making choices about a relationship without the primary factor being sex.

The squeaking of the kitchen chair on the wooden floor is really fucking loud and Eduardo wants to tell Sean to sit back down. “Why do I even waste my time, Eduardo?” Sean asks, shaking his head. “And yet I'm the asshole.” It’s a blur of motion that Eduardo can’t keep up with as Sean grabs for his jacket and the bags he’d brought food over in.

“I hope you enjoy your soup,” Sean calls as he slams the door.

Eduardo stares at the soup until it goes cold and then forces himself to eat every bite.

*

Eduardo wakes up the next day with a no longer congested chest but a terrible feeling of regret. It only takes a few moments for the memory of Sean's visit to come washing back over him.

_Jesus christ_ , he thinks. _I am an awful person_. He's not good at being sick. No one ever took care of him when he was growing up and now any sort of affection he views as suspect. Which is obviously a problem when someone you like shows up with homemade chicken noodle soup.

He sighs and emails into work, saying he'll keep up the best he can from home. Eduardo isn't going back out into the world until he can figure out a way to apologize to Sean.

He googles 'apology gifts' but that mostly gives him flowers and unfortunate lists about how to hide your indiscretions from your lover. Not exactly what he's looking for here and he's sort of disturbed by how detailed those are. There's nothing preventing him sending Sean flowers but it seems impersonal given Sean's visit with homemade food.

Maybe...he could make something? In high school, he dabbled in the art club. Art was a required elective, much to his father's disappointment and his enjoyment, and he wasn't that awful at it.

And if he remembers correctly, he has construction paper stashed from the last time Dustin came over after a bad break up. (The easiest way to comfort Dustin is with cartoons, construction paper, and crayons.) The paper is shoved in the back of his home office desk and he feels silly once he has it out. What the hell is he going to do with this anyway?

Eduardo sighs and sketches out a few things on notebook paper. He tries some different lettering styles, using fonts for reference, but he can't figure out anything that translate well enough. All he wants to say is _Sorry I fucked up_.

It's as a last resort that he actually scrawls _Sorry I'm an asshole_ on a piece of green construction paper. He looks at it and laughs. He's twenty plus years old and he's making a construction paper apology card. It's fitting, he decides, because he acted like an infant yesterday.

(He also might still be running a bit of a fever but this idea seems too stellar not to do.)

The grandfather clock in his office says that it's eleven forty-five which means Sean is on lunch and has one of his employees running the store. Eduardo squints at the clock and does the quick math: Sean will stay on lunch til around one thirty pm. If he leaves now...

He hurriedly gets dressed in clean clothes, although opting for jeans and a t-shirt because he is not going to do this in a suit, and heads for the door. He barely remembers his shitty construction paper card to bring to Sean. Eduardo needs to get to Sean before Sean decides that he isn't worthwhile or that this isn't going anywhere.

This bravado lasts him all the way to Latterrific and up the alley staircase to Sean's apartment. It occurs to him that Sean may not even be here, and then what's he going to do? Slide it under the door?

*

He sighs and knocks on the door, uncomfortably aware that he's never been in Sean's apartment before. He waits for five seconds and is prepared to walk away and try something else later when Sean's door opens.

Eduardo clasps a hand over his mouth to hide whatever embarrassing noise was about to happen because Sean is wearing low slung sweatpants and, well, not much else.

“Hi,” he squeaks out.

“Yes?” Sean asks.

“I, uh. Fuck.” He shoves the card at Sean, completely flustered and distracted by the way Sean looks. Totally befitting behavior for someone who is the CFO of a goddamn company, but whatever.

Sean takes it from him cautiously and his lip quirks as he looks at it. “Sorry I'm an asshole. Eduardo? Really?”

“I was kind of a dick,” Eduardo says. “You know. You brought me soup. And then I was a dick.”

Sean is wearing a full smile now and Eduardo feels a little bit of the trepidation around his heart start to crack. “You were definitely a dick,” Sean agrees, as he holds the door open and motions Eduardo inside.

Eduardo follows him cautiously, taking a look at Sean's apartment. It's small and somehow more subdued than Eduardo thought it would be.

“This is going on my fridge,” Sean says as he walks into the kitchen. “From Eduardo, who was a total dictator yesterday.”

Eduardo chokes on air, surprised and yet not at all at Sean's joke. “Fine, yes, whatever.”

“You feeling better?” Sean asks him, card firmly magnetized to the fridge.

“Yeah,” he breathes out, moving close to Sean. He's so close, Eduardo could kiss him, and there's not much more he wants right now, but Sean shifts. “Yeah. The soup helped a lot. Thank you.”

“So, you're telling me, that you're no longer sick and that's why you brought me a card on construction paper.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” Eduardo protests.

Sean laughs and runs a hand over his face. “I've got more soup. Why don't I heat some up and you can tell me why you even had construction paper on hand.”

Eduardo pulls a face at Sean's back. “Dustin, that's why.”

“Whatever you say, Saverin.”

Eduardo smiles: he might still be running a fever but Sean is about to feed him more homemade soup and he gets to watch him do it shirtless. “Can I get your recipe?”

“In your _dreams_.”

*

It’s Friday night and Eduardo and Sean are continuing their tradition of not-dates by watching movies on Sean’s couch. Sean keeps scooting closer and closer to him on the couch and Eduardo is waiting for Sean to pull the yawn and arm around the shoulders move.

“Why aren’t we together, Wardo?” The tone in Sean’s voice is casually non-committal and Eduardo isn’t sure if this is a set up for a joke or something serious.

“You smoke,” he decides on answering. Even that’s a lie. Eduardo has kissed Sean before when he’s been smoking and it was pretty goddamn hot.

“Only when I’m drinking!” Sean picks up his drink and takes a long swallow of it. Eduardo ignores the way Sean’s throat bobs.

Eduardo raises an eyebrow. “And you drink how frequently?”

“...Point, Saverin.” Sean sets his glass down on the coffee table and when Sean turns back to him, it feels like the electricity in the room has shifted. “You’re drinking tonight too,” he says. Sean’s hand carefully takes his glass and sets it down on the coffee table, too. This is his moment to tell Sean to go home, or that he’s going to bed.

Eduardo is tired, but he’s mostly tired of pretending he doesn’t want Sean. It’s exhausting to act like he’s not attracted to him. Sure, Sean makes him feel prickly and defensive but he likes it. The challenge of Sean, the contradictions that come with him like the way he refuses to wear jeans that aren’t designer but wears the same shirts until they fall apart. Sean’s hand catches his wrist and that’s all it takes for Eduardo to give in. He’s climbing on top of Sean, settling down into his lap, as he lets his defenses slide away. There’s a flash of something in Sean’s eyes - surprise, maybe? - but it disappears quickly. Sean kisses like a goddamn pro and Eduardo struggles to keep up. A hand slides down his back, settling firmly at his waistband and Eduardo presses himself against Sean, already desperate for Sean’s touch.

And objectively, Eduardo knew Sean would be really good at this. They’ve kissed before, of course, but not like this and Eduardo thinks he should get his living will set up. So it’s not exactly a surprise that Sean has him gasping for breath in a few short minutes. Eduardo is sucking bruises into the skin of Sean’s neck, enjoying the contrast as blood rushes below the surface. Sean has a hand on his hip with the promise of finger shaped bruises behind it. Sean tastes good, really fucking good, and he smells the way Eduardo imagines a 50s movie star would. Which, ugh, Sean has turned his thoughts into a fucking cliche phrase book.

He’s seriously considering losing his shirt and making Sean get rid of his too. Eduardo has only seen bits of Sean’s stomach, usually when he’s reaching up for coffee containers on the top shelf and Eduardo stands there stupidly desperately not looking but totally looking. Eduardo remembers all of those moments but he needs to see more, to actually _touch_ him. Sean puts a hand behind his neck, fingers digging into the nape of his neck, and Eduardo leans into it.

To Sean’s credit, it takes Eduardo a full minute to realize that his cell phone is ringing. Sean’s fingers are digging hard into his hips like he’s trying to keep Eduardo in place. He pulls back and smiles apologetically, head starting to clear immediately. He does an acrobatic bend and reach from Sean’s lap for his phone and manages to get it before it goes to voicemail. “Hello?” he says a little breathlessly. Sean is still touching him, maddening strokes of fingers across his back.

“Wardo!!” Dustin yells from the other end of the phone. Eduardo swats at Sean, who is stifling a laugh.

“Yeah, Dustin?” Eduardo asks a touch breathlessly. Because Sean is still touching him, hand sliding across his thigh, and all Eduardo wants is for Sean to _keep going_.

“Wardo, you'll never believe what I heard,” Dustin says, in that same fast paced, exuberant tone.

Eduardo is slow to respond, trying to figure out what Dustin even said, since Sean's hands are toying with the buttons of his jeans and he's a little distracted. He's not sure why he even answered the phone.

He must make a noise or something because Dustin shrieks and Eduardo grimaces, holding the phone out from his ear. “You're with _Sean_ , aren't you?” Dustin says.

Eduardo rolls his eyes and brings the phone back to his ear. “No, I'm at home.”

“That's a lie,” Dustin says. “When you're at home, you always have the tv on and I don't hear it.”

Yep, there's Sean undoing a button on his jeans. Eduardo can't help but jerk his hips forward a little bit and he shoots Sean a horrified look because Dustin is still on the phone. They should not be doing this for a slew of reasons but while there's an open phone line is a pretty good one.

“I muted it to take your call,” Eduardo says.

“HI SEAN!” Dustin yells into his ear and Eduardo drops his phone forward onto the couch. Eduardo stares at Sean, willing him not to pick it up, but Sean's hand disappears from his back and picks up the phone.

“Dustin,” Sean drawls, looking way too fucking pleased with himself.

“What are you and Eduardo doing?” he demands.

Eduardo wonders if Chris is listening in too. It's possible Dustin has Chris trapped somewhere and that's what's happening. Punishment for both himself and Chris. He's glad Dustin and Sean don't see each other that frequently because he worries about what that could mean. This is bad enough, hearing Sean laugh into the phone.

“Nothing!” Eduardo says as he plucks the phone from Sean's hand. “We're playing cribbage.”

Sean snorts and Eduardo shoots him a helpless look. He's never been good at lying on the fly— that's what he's always had Mark for.

“Riiiight,” Dustin says. “Let me know when you score one hundred and twenty one points, okay?”

Eduardo has no idea what that means because he doesn't actually _play_ cribbage but it was a thing that wasn't rutting on the couch, so he went with it.

“On second thought,” Dustin adds. “Don't tell me.” Dustin hangs up and Sean takes the phone just to toss it on the floor.

He never did find out what Dustin wanted to tell him.

*

Eduardo doesn't know why he thought _baking cupcakes_ for his...well, whatever Sean is, who actually bakes for a living was a good idea, but here he is with burnt cupcakes in his oven. The fire alarm hasn't gone off yet but Eduardo keeps eyeing it warily even though the oven has long been turned off.

And, of course, he invited Sean to come over at 2. The clock on the stove says 1:45pm in brightly lit numbers that don't seem to care that Eduardo's attempt to snuggle up to Sean has failed miserably.

_Okay_ , he thinks as he strips off his top shirt to avoid any more baking grime, _I can do this_. What he manages to do in fifteen minutes is get his dishwasher running and get the smoke cleared out of his apartment. The burnt cupcakes are still sitting in their pan on top of the stove and Eduardo is trying to decide the best place for them: trash inside or trash outside. He's not sure he has time to make the dumpster since Sean is going to be here very, very soon.

He finally decides that he'll hide them in one of his cabinets and is in the delicate process of moving the still hot tray when his doorbell rings. The tray falls from his hands to the ground and Eduardo swears. He wipes at his face with his dirty shirt and heads to the door, not even caring at this point about everything on the ground.

Sean's standing on the other side of the door, right on time, (which, incidentally, is not a thing Eduardo expected from Sean), and Eduardo sighs as he lets him in.

“Do you normally hang out in undershirts?” Sean asks as he pulls Eduardo in for a kiss. Eduardo sighs again, happily this time, because he really does enjoy Sean's company.

“No,” Eduardo says, pulling a face, “I was wearing a very nice shirt and then I spilled things on it.” He kicks at the shirt on the floor, personally offended by it for not being baking repellent. Maybe he should buy an apron sometime.

Sean laughs at him and walks fully into the kitchen. Eduardo follows behind him, still thinking a little about that kiss, when he realizes Sean isn't moving. Or, actually, he's _shaking_ , shaking all over. Sean turns back to him, face full of mirth. Sean is _shaking with laughter_. “Cupcakes?” Sean asks, gesturing to the floor, where all twelve burnt cupcakes are messily displayed.

“It was a peace offering!” Eduardo cries. “I wanted to do something nice. And I should probably stick to the CFO thing.”

Sean's got tears running down his face from laughing, that jerk, but it is funny and Eduardo loves seeing Sean laugh. “You don't have to be a jerk,” he says, grumbling, as he leans over to grab a cupcake off the floor. He lobs it at Sean, who laughs even harder upon holding it.

“Did you even put flour in these?” Sean's examining the cupcake like a weird science exhibit in a museum, utterly delightedly.

“Well. Yeah. I used flour.” The bag of flour is still sitting on his stove, flour scattered across the surface of it. Sean laughs again, wheezing slightly, and rubs something off of Eduardo's face.

“You had a glob of dried batter,” he says by way of explanation. “It was very becoming.”

Eduardo groans and scrubs at his face. “Stop, I'm a disaster. I wanted this to be a nice surprise.”

“I'm just glad to get to spend time around you, Wardo. You don't have to do anything for me.”

It's so honest that Eduardo takes a step forward towards Sean, stepping past the personal space bubble. He rests his hands on Sean's waist and leans in to kiss him. “Ugh, you're the worst. Don't be so nice.”

Sean preens a little at that and kisses him on the nose. “Totally ridiculous. Now, do you want me to bake you some cupcakes?” Eduardo shrugs and Sean detaches himself to start digging ingredients from various locations. He produces a jar of baking powder that Eduardo had no idea he even owned. Eduardo isn't certain that Sean didn't magically conjure these using some sort of baking black magic. If anyone knows how to do that, it would be Sean.

“Did you know I baked for a girlfriend in high school and she loved it?” He remembers Alana very well; they'd had a perfectly quaint high school relationship and he made her cookies as an anniversary present.

“Did you watch her eat what you baked?” Sean queries. Eduardo scrunches his nose, trying to remember that part, but all he can recall is her telling him how she ate all of them in one night.

“No? I don't think so?”

There's a snort as Sean digs in the very back of Eduardo's pantry, surely about to obtain some other mythical cooking ingredient. “She probably ate one and tossed the rest but took pity on your pretty face.” Sean turns around triumphantly with baking powder and a soft smile on his face. “Do you even cook at all? Your kitchen is... strangely arrayed.”

Eduardo coughs, redness coming to his cheeks, as he surveys his mostly immaculate kitchen. He really doesn't do cooking because that's one of the perks of having as much money as he does. All the take out he wants and he can order pre-made meals to have delivered. He has all the proper cookery; it's all very nice and unused. “Maybe not so much.”

Sean sighs as he opens up the fridge. “Well, there's no sign of mountain dew and red vines around here so you're still doing better than Mark.”

Laughter is the only response to that, because the day Eduardo eats worse than Mark is probably the same day he ends up in the hospital for some sort of horrific illness.

*

_Video game night!!!!!!!_ Dustin’s text reads. It could be fun, Eduardo thinks. They haven’t really done video game nights since Kirkland, and they are quite a ways past that.

_Sure. See you at 8._

They really don’t hang out enough, considering how much they see each other. Being at work and bantering there isn’t quite the same as watching Chris get creamed at Mario Kart. He knocks on the door to Dustin’s apartment, because unlike some people (Mark) he finds knocking to be the polite thing to do. Chris swings open the door, and there’s already an alcohol flush to his face.

“Losing already, Hughes?” Eduardo teases, stepping inside. Chris shakes his head, and takes another sip of the beer he’s holding.

Eduardo leaves his shoes by the door and snags a beer from the kitchen before joining the party in the living room. Mario Kart is in full swing on a ridiculous tv-he’d forgotten how large Dustin liked his tv to be-and not surprisingly, Dustin is kicking everyone’s ass.

Mark’s there, of course, and Chris has resumed his spot, so who is the fourth player? That’s his spot.

“Wardo,” Mark says with a nod, not ever taking his eyes off the screen.

Eduardo sees a character die on screen as Sean turns around on the couch and says his name.

“Hey,” he says weakly. He doesn’t know why Sean’s here. Did they invite Sean directly? Because no one told him that Sean was coming. These are his friends, and Sean is distinctly not one of the Kirkland 4, so why is he here?

“I went by Latterrific,” Dustin says by way of explanation. “We’ve got all the day old pastries in the kitchen.”

“How nice,” Eduardo says, only a little tightly. The only spot left for him is next to Sean, which would normally be okay, but. He sighs and takes a long swig of his beer, before he settles into the spot next to Sean.

He sips his beer and tries to ignore how cozy and domestic this feels. It seems like the Kirkland days with a bigger tv, but Sean’s here too, and Eduardo can’t parse the situation.

But whatever, there’s booze and video games, and even he’s not stupid enough to fuck that up.

At some point, he’s cracking open another beer, and he and Sean are thoroughly trouncing Mark and Dustin.

“You two make a good team,” Dustin quips. “Must be that boyfriend ESP.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Eduardo says at the same moment Sean starts to laugh.

There’s a beat of silence, and then all four characters on screen die.

“Um,” Mark says, as he sets down his controller.

“ _What_ ,” Sean says.

“Yeah,” Dustin says, setting down his own controller. A few puffs of air and Dustin and Mark have vacated the room. They must have stopped Chris in the kitchen.

“Um,” Eduardo echoes, as his heart and his stomach switch places.

*

“Why won't you fucking do this, Eduardo?” Sean yells. Eduardo has never seen Sean angry before. He's seen him mad, unhappy, irritated- but never angry, not like this, and never at him.

“This? This? What this?” Eduardo knows what Sean's talking about; he means them. But Eduardo doesn’t want to do that. He doesn't want to have this conversation with Sean.

Sean laughs darkly and Eduardo feels his heart start to crack. “That's how you're going to play this? We've been _dating_ , whether you want to call it that or not.” Sean takes a deep breath and Eduardo stares at the way his fists are clenched.

“Someone has to say _something_ for there to be a relationship.” Pain explodes in his head and he thinks maybe this is what he deserves for all of this. He should have known better than to ever even go to Latterrific that second time. He should have done something differently otherwise he wouldn't be here ready to puke. “It’s not like we were—”

“Don’t. Don’t you fucking say it. Don’t say your bullshit Facebook official lingo.”

“Dating,” he says weakly, completely unsure of the fact.

“Okay, yeah, sure. Then, this is me _breaking up with you_.” Sean's whole body is shaking at this point, completely tense like he still hasn't completely let go. “Because whether you admit to it or not, Eduardo, we've been dating for months.”

Months. Has it been that long that they've known each other? Eduardo sees flashes of Sean bringing him soup, wordlessly showing up with that movie he mentioned on dvd, baking him the best goddamn birthday cake he's ever had.

And the kissing and the sex and the nights Eduardo would wake up on Sean's couch at 3am to find himself and Sean wrapped around each other.

It _terrifies_ him because for the past few years his life has not gone the way it was supposed to go. How could he have predicted any of this? He thought things were crazy enough when it was _just_ Facebook but now there's Sean Parker.

“And you know what's the funniest part? I bet you don't get it. I bet you think nothing happened at all, in that fucking head of yours, where you're always the victim.” Sean's eyes are dark, and Eduardo idly recognizes that Sean's wearing his real glasses. “But you're the asshole. I'm the idiot thinking you'll finally realize that I'm in fucking love with you.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Eduardo says automatically. “You aren't in love with me.”

“I wish you were right, _Wardo_ ,” Sean sneers. ”I'd rather feel anything than what I feel right now because being in love with you, frankly, fucking sucks.''

“I'm tired of making your favorite meal and special ordering that coffee for you even though it's more expensive and never saying a goddamn word.

“But you don't know any of that, do you Eduardo? Because the world is _too hard_ for you. And you know what's really funny? I'm probably the person most uniquely qualified to understand the Facebook thing other than your friends who actually work at Facebook. I've _been_ you, Eduardo, but I can't be that person again.

“I thought you were different. I guess I fell for your bullshit nice guy facade, but I can't do this anymore.”

Eduardo has spent twenty-five years thinking hearts were a waste of time. Now he knows that he was right. All he can feel is his splintering and cracking because Sean is right. He _loves_ him but he's never going to have him, not after this.

He's fucked this up. He's fucked them up.

He's turned into everything he didn't want to be. His hands are the ones shaking, now, and there's bile rising in his throat that he can't control. There aren't any excuses this time.

He's the asshole.

*

Eduardo goes to Mark for sympathy because he's his best friend. They didn't even really plan on being best friends, but that's what happened. And that's what you do when the guy you were apparently dating breaks up with you and tells you to get fucked.

Mark is coding even though he really doesn't need to do that sort of thing anymore. That's why they have paid interns and employees and Facebook is worth a lot of money. But that's what Mark likes about Facebook, is knowing its skin, so Eduardo isn't really surprised.

Things are better than they were in Kirkland days. When Eduardo comes in the room, Mark usually saves his code and puts it down. This is what happens today: Mark glances up and sees him and almost slams his laptop lid shut. He gestures at the door and Eduardo pulls it closed behind him.

“So,” Eduardo says as he takes a seat on the couch in Mark's office. “Apparently Sean and I were dating.”

“Well, duh,” Mark snorts. “That's not news.”

Eduardo gapes, staring at Mark. “But, I mean, we weren't—”

Mark rolls his eyes and scribbles swirls into a notepad. Eduardo can't look away from the motion of his pen even though it's nonsense and there's no real pattern. “Wardo,” Mark says in the same tone he uses with employees who mess up code, “you and Sean have been dating. Kissing and fucking and honestly, Friday movie nights?”

“I didn't think—”

Mark cuts him off, apparently not finished. “No, god, of course you didn't. Because that's not how you see yourself. Everyone accuses me of being obtuse, but _you_ , Wardo.”

Eduardo's throat is suddenly very dry and he casts a longing glance at the fridge underneath Mark's desk. Mark, of course, isn't paying attention to that and keeps scrawling lines onto his notepad. “You got punched by the Phoenix but you don't even realize when you're dating someone?”

“Was,” Eduardo adds weakly. “I mean, if we were dating. We aren't now.” He folds his hands in the middle of his lap in the hopes that they’ll stop shaking if he sets them down and tells them to _behave_. It isn’t really working because he can still feel every twitch in his finger as his stomach twists.

Mark leans forward, eyes widening. “Do you mean Sean finally told you to fuck off?”

“Mark!” Eduardo cries out. “You know you're my best friend and not his, right?” Because that's really honestly unfair. Best friends are supposed to take your side no matter what. (Well, maybe not in murder cases, but come on.)

Mark sighs and straightens up in his chair. “I am!” He quiets, looking at Eduardo. “I _am_ your best friend, Wardo. But you're being an Asshole.”

Eduardo can hear the capitalization of the word and he scoffs back at Mark. “I'm not one of those guys, Mark. You know me.”

“Really,” Mark says drolly. “Are you sure about that?”

“I'm pretty sure!” Eduardo is relatively certain that he's not someone who pretends to be nice. Because he is genuinely nice and tries to be a good person.

“Okay. How many times did you and Sean hook up for you to dismiss it as meaning nothing the next day? How many times did you let him pamper you? How many free coffees has he given you even though you could buy and sell his coffee shop?” Mark sets his pen down gently on the notepad and Eduardo flinches.

“You know how Sean is! He's like that!”

“Right. And zero part of you took advantage of that.” Mark stares at him, waiting for him to speak, and Eduardo wilts.

“Can I have some water?” he says abruptly. He hopes futilely that Mark will lose his train of thought even though he knows that Mark has laser focus when he wants it.

Mark sighs and leans down to open the fridge. He moves back and tosses Eduardo a bottle of water. “Look, Wardo. I’m sure this all goes back to some deep seated commitment issue of yours, but Sean deserves better than what you’re giving him.”

*

But, whatever, Eduardo doesn’t owe Sean anything and he bristles at the implication that he does. Because it’s not his fault they were dating and he didn’t know it. (Even if Mark apparently knew it, which really says something troubling. He’s not thinking about that.)

So he stops going by for his morning coffee. He tries to fix his coffee maker and tosses the whole thing. In the type of splurge purchase he can afford but tries not to do, he orders a fancy espresso maker.

It sits untouched at his apartment because Eduardo can’t look at it without seeing _Sean_ at the shop, or in his apartment, or anything about Sean.

He switches to drinking tea, and pretends that it gives him all the caffeine he needs and that he’s not doubly battered over the Sean thing and giving up coffee.

The espresso maker ends up in one of the many Facebook break rooms and no one is stupid enough to ask Eduardo why he had it to begin with.

He really hates tea.

*

Life goes on, unfortunately. He throws himself into work at Facebook because it sometimes manages to distract him from the fact that he’s under caffeinated and the person he was apparently dating isn’t speaking to him. Not that Eduardo has really tried to contact him, because this is the part he’s not good at.

Hallmark doesn’t exactly make ‘sorry I didn’t know we were dating but I’m also a little in love with you too and it scares me’ cards.

He’d looked into sending apology flowers, even, but got too caught up in flower meanings to even seriously consider it.

“Uh, Wardo, I don't know if you heard,” Dustin says casually as he strolls into Eduardo's office. Too casually, because Dustin doesn't really do casual, it's always go go go with him.

Eduardo minimizes the screens on his computer and looks at Dustin, who seems extremely nervous. “Heard what, exactly? There are a lot of things I could have heard.”

Dustin exhales a shaky breath and plops himself onto Eduardo's couch. “Okay, don't kill the messenger, please, I just didn't think you'd heard and you should know.” He chews on his fingers before taking a deep breath and turning to face Eduardo. “Sean got a franchise offer for Latterific and he's moving to New York next week.”

The world splinters around Eduardo and all he can hear is that Sean is leaving. It's not like Eduardo has a real right to be upset after everything that happened between them but he thinks maybe he's been shot. Dustin is standing up, hovering over him nervously, and Eduardo forces a smile. “That's good. Good. He deserves it.”

Dustin takes a step back and gives Eduardo the meanest look he's ever seen on Dustin's face. (And he remembers lots of encounters with Dustin— glares are a right of passage in college friendship. If you can survive one, you pass.) “That's all you have to say about it,” Dustin says flatly.

“Well, he does deserve it.Latterific has great coffee and all that.” The world still feels unsteady and he takes a deep breath. Maybe if Dustin pinches him... He shakes his head.

“Wow, Wardo. I didn't think I'd be saying this, but Mark was right about you.” Dustin slinks out of his office without a further word.

His office feels like it's scalding him and he tries to imagine coming into work every morning without seeing Sean for coffee. Latterific hasn't seen him much anyway; he's tried to stay away in deference to what he figures Sean wants, which is for Eduardo to make a stage exit and not come back.

So why does he feel so goddamn shitty? And why the fuck didn't Mark tell him about this?

That's a different kind of rage inside of him and he flicks the power button on his computer without thinking about the work he's left unsaved. He heads for Mark's office, hoping and fearing that he'll be in there.

“Marrrrkkk,” he yells across the office floor as he storms into Mark's office. Mark is wired in, of course, like always, and Eduardo is so angry he thinks about grabbing Mark's laptop and smashing it. Mark raises an eyebrow and takes his headphones off.

“Close the door, Eduardo.”

He was going to do it anyways, but he hates when Mark tells him what to do with _that look_ on his face and he slams it shut.

“You weren't going to tell me about Sean.” Mark's face flickers and Eduardo wishes he knew what the hell it meant.

“Why should I,” Mark says coolly. “You don't seem to care about him.”

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Eduardo hisses, crossing the room to glower over Mark. “You know exactly how much I care about him.”

“Oh, right. Ignoring him, fucking him and disappearing, telling him he's beneath you. True love, really.” Mark scoffs at him, picking up his headphones again.

“Don't you fucking dare pull that shit on me, Mark.” A frantic thought appears in his mind and there's panic rising in his throat. “Did Sean ask you not to tell me?”

Mark laughs, harsh and bitter. “Does it really matter?”

_When did your loyalties switch_ , Eduardo wants to scream out. “Yeah, it matters.”

Mark shrugs, and spins around in his chair one full rotation before pausing in front of Eduardo again. “I didn't think you needed to know.”

Eduardo sees red, actually, and he's amazed that he's still standing after watching Mark say that. He knows Mark can be cruel; he was there for the Erica Albright facesmash fiasco but he hasn't been on the receiving end very often. “So you kept it from me,” Eduardo says flatly.

“No, that's not what I said. I just didn't go out of my way to tell you.” Mark looks bored with the conversation already and the rage Eduardo is feeling kicks up another notch.

“You should have—”

“I shouldn't have done anything!” Mark yells. “You didn't ask about him. You let him go, Eduardo. You let him think he had to do this.” Mark softens slightly, voice dropping. “He's my friend, too.”

And that's true, for as much as Eduardo can't fathom it, Mark and Sean get along really well. They balance each other out and there's been more than one moment where he's confused that Sean has chosen him instead of Mark.

“He told me—I just—,” Eduardo says.

Mark scoffs but smiles a little at him. “He told you, but you didn't do anything. You've been moping and not talking to him like that would fix anything.”

Eduardo tries to think about what he's been doing since Sean said _break up_ and _we were dating, you idiot_ but the days got blurry once he wasn't getting his daily coffee at Latterrific. “I didn't know how?” he offers weakly.

“Obviously.”

Silence hangs heavy between them for a moment and Eduardo wishes, briefly, that things were simpler like they were back at Harvard. When there wasn’t all of this...extra stuff to get in the way.

“Look,” Mark says, actually staring at Eduardo levelly. “I want both of you to be happy. But you never _let_ yourself be happy, and Sean has a chance to go out there and get it.”

“I let myself be happy plenty!” A prickling sensation creeps across his skin and he shudders. “I mean, I try to.”

Mark sighs, one that Eduardo recognizes as the most long suffering of them all, and closes his laptop. “Eduardo, do you remember Christy?”

Eduardo splutters, because he didn't think Mark even _remembered_ Christy or knew her name. “Yeah. Sort of hard to forget.”

“She _set your apartment on fire_. That's what it took for you to end things with her.” Mark shrugs. “That's the kind of standards you set for yourself. These thresholds are fucking impossible.”

“It's not like that with Sean.”

“I _know_ , but you're still being stupid. Sean isn't Christy.” Mark chews on the string of his hoodie and considers. “Nah, I don't know any Sean and fire stories.”

“But he's leaving, so it doesn't matter.”

“God, please go to Dustin with your crises next time. Don't you watch movies? Surely there's some sort of important lesson there that you can draw from?”

Mark pauses and shakes his head. “Seriously. You are my closest friend but I am not going to navigate your weird dependency issues.”

In a completely Mark style of peace offering, he tosses Eduardo a can of mountain dew. The can is cool against his skin and makes him think of the night Sean opened a bottle of chilled white wine with a knife since neither of them could find a fucking corkscrew.

“You're right,” he says. “Dustin is much better with specifics and plans to win back scorned lovers.” He smiles, happy to know that he hasn't lost Mark.

He pops the tab on the mountain dew can as he leaves Mark's office. Maybe the caffeine will help him think. Or he’ll have a heart attack and die and won’t have to deal with this anymore. Something.

It doesn't surprise Eduardo to find Dustin already in Chris' office and his ears are burning before he steps into Chris' office. Dustin glowers at him and Eduardo sighs. “Yes, I fucked up,” he says. “Now you two have to help me fix it because Mark and I have had two advice talks lately and I don't think either of us could handle another.”

Chris splutters at that and Eduardo can almost see the public relations gears turning in his head. He thinks a better friend would tell Chris not to think whatever it is, but he's not forgiving enough of Mark at the moment to let him escape from Chris. It makes him feel a little better already.

“Mark really was able to have that effect on you?” Dustin asks disbelievingly.

“It's a miracle,” Chris deadpans. “You know I do public relations for Facebook and not for your love life, right?”

“Well,” Eduardo says, “Technically, my love life could be a public relations issue. You remember the interview—”

Chris glares at him. “I try not to. That interview cost me a lot of sleep and I had to go buy painkillers for the massive headache I developed.”

“Whatever,” Dustin says, shaking his head, “this really isn’t our job. Wardo needs to deal with his own fuckups.”

Eduardo sighs. He definitely deserves that, but... “I didn’t think he would decide to move to New York City!”

“Love makes you crazy!” Dustin says, and Eduardo doesn’t miss the brief glance he gives Chris. “And don’t say it isn’t love, because you would not be here begging for help if it were anything else.”

“Hold on,” Chris says, rubbing a hand across his face. “You upset Sean so badly he's moving across the country and you think Dustin and I will have some magical plan to get him to stay.”

“When you put it like that,” Eduardo huffs, draining the rest of his soda.

“Yeah, I've got one.” Chris chucks a pad of post it notes at his head and Eduardo ducks, barely. “Go fucking talk to him about this. And _actually_ talk. Apologize.”

Dustin coughs. “I still think Sean would accept a huge Star Trek box set, though.”

Eduardo blinks. “Sean likes Star Trek?” He’s sure he would have noticed that.

“ _DUSTIN_. Grown ups have to resolve their issues with words and feelings and not with presents.” Chris pauses, gives Eduardo a considering grin. “Although, this doesn't apply to me, so please feel free to reimburse me via box set.”

“For what? You guys didn’t actually help me with anything!”

*

It’s a cliche, because his life has turned into a cliche since Sean showed up. It’s late at night, and raining, and Eduardo has finally gathered the nerve to show up at Latterrific. Well, hell, not even the coffee shop, the staircase behind the shop that leads to Sean’s apartment. There’s two entrances, the one inside the shop, and the one with the creaky staircase that makes Eduardo feel creepy.

But fuck it, he’s not letting this go on any longer. He’s can’t let Sean leave, at least not without Sean knowing how he feels. The door seems like it’s staring him down, already judging him for being here. He couldn’t make himself show up during business hours, when there might be people around to see this.

The rain digs into his skin and Eduardo raises his hand to knock at the door, a hard rap, because this is his last shot.

It takes a few moments, but Sean eventually opens the door, eyes bleary. Eduardo notices with a sinking sensation in his gut that Sean has already started to recoil when he sees him. Sean’s posture is defensive in a way Eduardo hasn’t seen before and he has a vivid flash of knowledge that this is the Sean who got sued by record companies and was forced out of the tech industry. It makes him want to hold Sean close, and to whisper secrets to him, things he’s never told anyone.

There are several things Eduardo wants to say but staring at Sean, being in his presence, has him stammering and nervous again. “You’re moving to New York,” he tries to say flatly but it comes out as an accusation.

Sean rolls his eyes and that hurts worse than if Sean had closed the door. “Yeah. Franchising. It’s good finances.”

“Is that why you’re leaving?” he blurts out, heart pounding and useless facts from an undergraduate anatomy class swirling in his head. _The resting rate of the heart—_

“Yeah. Getting away from this is a side benefit.” Sean looks at him steadily and all Eduardo wants to do is drop eye contact.

“I never meant to—” _Fall in love_ , he thinks.

“Hurt me,” Sean finishes. “I’m sure that makes you feel better about it, but me, not so much.”

_Fuck_. He’s so seriously unprepared for this conversation. He’s used to playful banter with Sean that he’s forgotten how nasty Sean can be.

“That’s not what I was going to say.” He finally drops eye contact, exhaling roughly as he does it. The rain has soaked through his coat and he’s sure this is some sort of stupid metaphor. “Can I come in?”

Sean laughs. “No, I don’t think so.”

Right. He should have been expecting that. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he says, because that’s true. Even though he isn’t looking at Sean he can still feel the unwavering glare. Eduardo pulls his rain soaked coat tighter around himself. “I just wanted a cup of coffee.”

  
Sean flinches and the light inside shifts enough that Eduardo can see the bags under Sean’s eyes.

“I didn’t— fuck.” He makes himself meet Sean’s eyes again. “I wasn’t prepared for _you_ , for everything you are. I didn’t know I was going to get a cup of coffee and end up falling in fucking love with you, okay?”

Sean stiffens, body tightening all over, and Eduardo knows this is it, that he has to keep talking.

“I love you,” he says. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t fucking realize until you were gone.” The thickness in the air makes him think of Brazilian heat from his childhood, days when all the popsicles in the world couldn’t alleviate the aching in his bones.

Eduardo feels the kiss before he tastes it or expects it or smells it. Sean’s lips are insistent like Eduardo is a code he’s trying to crack.

“So long,” Sean whispers. “So fucking long.”

One of them is crying, he isn’t sure who, but it doesn’t matter. He can’t let go of Sean, can’t imagine not waking up to him every day.

*

Eduardo slumps against Sean, completely exhausted after all of the yelling. They've reached a tentative truce for now, having sufficiently examined their feelings in loud tones. It's made him realize how much he hates that.

“Sean,” he says quietly, twining a hand around Sean's, “I'm sorry.”

“I thought we were finished with all of the apologizing.”

He huffs out a breath with a bit of residual frustration, because apologizing was part of the fight, but tamps it down. “You're right.” He pulls Sean's hand up to his mouth and kisses it lightly. “I don't want you to think that I don't care about you, is all.”

Sean tugs his hand away to climb halfway onto his lap and smiles at him. “I think I've figured that out.” He leans in for a kiss and Eduardo yields to it, enjoying the knowledge that Sean is _his_ and that they maybe have this crazy thing worked out.

The kiss turns a little more insistent, and Eduardo is breathless in a matter of minutes. “Is this a good idea?” he asks as Sean sucks on his earlobe.

“Mmm,” Sean whispers, “I've never seen anything wrong with us having sex.”

Eduardo laughs and Sean kisses down his neck before looking in his eyes again. “I meant, after all of this?”

“Eduardo,” Sean says patiently, “the whole point of that fight was for us to stop fighting.” Still, Sean readjusts himself so that they are curled up side by side again. Eduardo has an arm slung around Sean, keeping him close in. Sean's hair gel is tickling Eduardo's neck and he thinks the fighting might have been worth it if it means that they have ended up here.

“Can't believe I fell in love with someone who thinks Latterific is a good name for a coffee shop.” He squeezes Sean's leg as he says it to make it as clear as possible that he's teasing. He can't imagine the shop being called anything else at this point.

Sean makes a grumbling noise but doesn't say much and they eventually doze off, in the uncomfortable corner of Sean's kitchen where they ended up. Eduardo wakes up a few hours later, his arm cramping and contacts killing him, but he can't make himself move away from Sean.

He settles on nudging Sean, who protests before finally opening eyes. “I know you have a California king bed, and we should relocate there immediately.”

“You're making the coffee tomorrow, Saverin,” Sean says with a yawn as he extricates himself from the floor. The thought of Sean actually letting Eduardo anywhere near his coffee shop machines is too funny for Eduardo to take but he opts for keeping his mouth shut. The smile on his face is ridiculous and stays there even after he's deposited Sean in his bed and taken out his contacts in the bathroom, squinting the whole time.

When he joins Sean in bed, he curls up behind Sean, wrapping a possessive arm around his stomach. He knows he’ll wake up to cool sheets but he’ll be able to hear the noises of Latterific’s kitchen below him. The noises will soothe him back to sleep and Sean will come back upstairs when the morning’s pastries are in the oven with a cup of his favorite coffee, just the way he likes it.

*

Epilogue

"Oh my god, Sean. That's the second coffee cup you've dropped today. It's like you don't own your own coffee shop." Eduardo stares at Sean, who is currently scrambling in a mixture of coffee cup shards and liquid.

He sighs and walks over to Sean. "C'mon. Don't hurt yourself." He reaches for the broom he keeps in the closet and starts to sweep the shards into a pile. Sean has retreated in search of a cloth and Eduardo allows himself a long look at his ass. It's a great ass, but he might enjoy it more if he weren't convinced his boyfriend was about to break up with him.

Sean's smile is shaky as he sets the cloth on the floor to soak up the coffee. "Sorry," he says.

"Okay," Eduardo pauses from his shard collection to look at Sean. "I can count on one hand the number of times you've apologized to me- and it's never been for something like this."

Sean gulps and Eduardo can feel a pit of fear building in his own stomach. So they'd gotten past the one year mark of official dating, so what. Couples who'd dated longer than that broke up all the time. And they didn't even have to deal with the cult of pseudo celebrity that Eduardo has going on. "It's nothing, Wardo," Sean mutters as picks up the cloth and heads to the sink. He doesn't make eye contact as he walks away.

Eduardo wants to yell at him because Sean has been off lately but the past few days it's been awful. If his boyfriend is about to dump him after breaking his favorite coffee cup, he'd like to go ahead and get it over with so that he can at least go buy a new mug. That's the one part he'd be able to fix, at least.

He ignores the gut feeling in his stomach that something's wrong and stands behind him at the sink. He slips an arm across his waist and pulls him close. "Sean," he wheedles. "What's going on?" Sean's skin is too good not to kiss so he drops a few kisses along the line of his neck. If it's going to be the last time he gets to, he may as well make the most of it.

Sean sighs and shakes his head. "Wardo, I said I'm _fine_." Sean stiffens underneath him and well, Eduardo did go to Harvard, after all. He can definitely take a hint. He extricates himself carefully, already missing the feeling of Sean in his arms.

"Look," he says, trying not to let his voice crack, "if you're breaking up with me, will you just go ahead and do it?" There. He's said it. He's cataloging the possibilities in his head. They're practically living together at this point but that's okay. He can get a hotel for a while and Sean can take as long as he wants to clear his stuff out.

He's so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn't realize Sean has turned around from the sink. "No, you idiot," Sean says, eyes glaring. "I'm not breaking up with you. Do you know how hard it was to get you to date me?" Sean pulls off his apron he'd been wearing to make breakfast and drops it to the ground.

"Then what the fuck is going on? You broke my favorite coffee mug!" It's the one Sean gave him - has _best CFO_ on it in comic sans. It was a joke present but Eduardo actually really adores it.

Sean huffs out an angry breath and stares at Eduardo. "I had a plan for this, you know." He sighs again and drops to one knee. "Eduardo Saverin, will you marry me?"

If he'd been holding a coffee cup, Eduardo is certain he would have broken it.

"I'm sorry - what?" He's still staring at Sean, down on one knee in cooling coffee spills, and looking somewhat annoyed.

"Oh my god, this is why I had a plan. There was a trip to NYC, and Broadway..." Sean shifts on his knees and Eduardo reaches down to help him off of the ground.

"Our vacation," Eduardo says. "You were going to propose to me then." He grabs Sean and holds him in close, ignoring how Sean's jeans are wet against his. He cups his face, looking through the completely fake glasses to Sean's eyes.

"Is that a yes or a no, Saverin? Because if it's a no, I'm sure I can get someone else to go on this trip with me."

"Don't be stupid, Sean. Of course it's a yes."

Sean exhales and laughs shakily and Eduardo can't help but kiss him. They've never talked about the marriage thing, not really, but he'd be lying to say that he hadn't thought about it. Maybe not with specifics like this, but he's known for a while that he wanted Sean to hang around.

"You have to get me a new coffee mug," he says with a smile, letting Sean know that he's not really serious about it.

"Really? That's it? Much cheaper than this trip I had planned." Sean smiles and kisses him this time. "I don't have the rings yet. But as soon as I get them..."

"I'm sure they're lovely."

"Well..." Sean says. "Mark helped me. I mean, he helped me write a program to outline your preferences for jewelry."

Eduardo isn't sure if Sean is joking or not but the mention of Mark makes him realize that they'll have to tell people. A secret doesn't stay secret for long, and definitely not if Sean's been planning all of this out.

"I can't wait to tell everyone about how you proposed to me on one knee in spilled coffee and close to porcelain shards."

Sean cringes and looks down forlornly at his jeans. "These were expensive, you know." That’s something Eduardo knows— he remembers seeing Sean’s receipt for them and stifling a gasp at how much money Sean was spending on clothes.

"I'll buy you a new pair. Even two new pairs.” He pauses, considering, “I can _probably_ afford it."

"Not that I don't love you lording your money over me, but I have some wet jeans to get out of and a new fiance. I was thinking a hot shower might be good."

"Pastries after?"

"Whatever you want, Wardo."

It's a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Art by mesmerized_mia (http://aqueeninallbuttitle.tumblr.com/post/65925752149/tsn-big-bang-art-for-phobiaofshaes-wonderful)  
> Art by laenix (http://laenix.livejournal.com/2439.html)
> 
> Part of TSN Big Bang 2013!


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